State-owned oil and gas company Qatar Petroleum (QP) has completed a reorganisation that has seen foreign staff laid off, as it focuses on its core businesses, according to CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi.

Speaking on 23 June, Al-Kaabi told journalists the company had decided to exit all non-core businesses, without giving details of how many people have lost their jobs.

Al-Kaabi said no Qatari employees were laid off.

As part of the reorganisation, Qatar Petroleum International has been integrated into QP, meaning there is now just one corporation that is responsible for Qatar’s oil and gas operations both domestically and beyond its borders.

“We are in a period of oversupply in the industry, and we need to be very efficient as an organisation,” said Al-Kaabi.

“While we have no control over markets and prices, we do have control over our cost and expenditure.”

QP was established in 1974 and is responsible for all phases of the oil and gas industry in Qatar. Its core activities include the exploration, production and sale of oil, gas and related products.