(Adds quote, details of executive salary, other company cuts)
By Nia Williams
CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Canadian Natural
Resources Ltd CNQ.TO , the country's largest independent oil
producer, is cutting salaries by up to 10 percent for all its
staff in Calgary, Alberta, and Aberdeen, Scotland, the company
said on Wednesday.
CNRL spokeswoman Julie Woo said the salary reduction is a
response to low global oil prices, and would be steeper for
higher-salaried individuals.
"The challenges facing our industry are significant," Woo
said. "In this environment, Canadian Natural is taking
additional actions to further reduce costs and to protect the
robustness of the company by implementing a salary reduction of
up to 10 percent for all Calgary and Aberdeen staff."
The Calgary-based company has operations in Western Canada,
the North Sea and offshore West Africa with than 7,600 employees
in total.
In the first quarter, CNRL's board of directors and senior
executives took a 10 percent salary cut, while vice presidents
took a 5 percent decrease. The senior executive and vice
presidents were included in the additional cuts announced on
Wednesday.
The salary cut is the latest step taken by Canadian oil and
gas producers to rein in costs and weather a prolonged period of
low global oil prices, which have tumbled nearly 60 percent
since June 2014.
Last week light oil producer Penn West Petroleum PWT.TO
and oil major ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) COP.N said they were eliminating
a combined 900 jobs in Canada. ID:nL1N1171E7
(Editing by Andrew Hay and G Crosse)