Royal Dutch Shell will cut 500 out of 1,300 jobs from the Pulau Bukom oil refinery in Singapore by 2023, Reuters reported.

This is part of an overhaul to reduce Shell's carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050, as thousands of jobs will be shed globally.

The refinery at Bukom is Shell's largest wholly-owned refinery worldwide.

In September 2020, Shell had said it planned to cut up to 9,000 jobs globally.

This represented more than 10 per cent of its workforce.

Shell will halve crude processing capacity at the Bukom oil refinery.

Around the world, Shell is cutting the number of oil refining and petrochemical sites from 14 to six.

Shell said: "Bukom will pivot from a crude-oil, fuels-based product slate towards new low-carbon value chains. We will reduce our crude processing capacity by about half and aim to deliver a significant reduction in CO2 emissions."

As a result of this pivot, by the end of 2023, Shell will cut 500 jobs from Bukom where 1,300 staff are now employed.

Going into other forms of cleaner energy

Shell said it was studying the production of biofuels and specialities like bitumen in Singapore that would still be viable following its energy transition.

Shell added it would expand its solar power generation, including utility-scale plants, build electric vehicle charging points, provide carbon-neutral solutions for its customers and study plastic waste recycling.

Shell is also expecting its first bunkering ship for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to arrive in Singapore later in 2020.

It is a joint venture with Keppel Offshore & Marine and will be operated by FueLNG.

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