Imperial Oil Ltd. says it plans to sell its sprawling head office complex in Calgary as part of its efforts to restructure, which also involves cutting hundreds of jobs and shifting most of its presence outside the city that’s synonymous with oilpatch headquarters. An Imperial spokesperson confirmed the company has a tentative agreement to sell its corporate office complex in southeast Calgary, and lease some of the space as it shrinks its employee headcount. The massive campus is home to five low-rise buildings with roughly 800,000 square feet of office space — enough for 3,000 people — but in recent years the firm had already consolidated into fewer buildings. Only about 1,100 workers remain at the campus. The oil and gas producer announced on Monday it plans to cut 900 jobs, mostly in Calgary, and centralize its operations. The move is part of a global restructuring at its majority owner, Exxon Mobil Corp. , which is shrinking its office footprint and cutting three to four per cent of its workforce to reduce costs and operate more efficiently. Calgary, widely known as the headquarters city for Canada’s oilpatch, already leads the country with the highest office vacancy rate — 20 per cent — the legacy of an oil price glut in 2014 that emptied downtown towers. Imperial, an oilsands producer and refiner that owns Esso gasoline stations across the country, had originally expected its suburban Calgary office campus would be “our company home for many decades,” according to an internal memo the firm sent to employees in 2012. At the time, it expected staff would move from various buildings to the complex in the community of Quarry Park starting in 2014. “We have designed a space that will meet the needs not only of our current workforce, but the future generation as well,” the memo said. A new internal document suggests conditions at the company have changed significantly since then. The document, dated Sept. 29 and viewed by the Financial Post, said Imperial has had a “surplus of Calgary office space” for several years, and had been “evaluating options for the campus.” The document — a list of frequently asked questions posted on an intranet webpage about the consolidation plans — said Imperial plans to maintain “a small presence in Calgary, serving primarily as an advocacy office.” The company plans to shift some of the Calgary positions to Houston, while another 360 roles could move to Exxon’s global business and technology centres in I ndia, Argentina, Thailand or Brazil, according to employees who attended a company-wide town hall on Monday. Other staff will be relocated to Imperial’s Strathcona refinery in Edmonton, which the internal FAQ document said is “consistent with our principles of having most employees located either at or near an operating site.” “By having more of our people working together at the same location, we provide greater career opportunities and easier access to development,” the document said. Imperial Oil to slash 20 per cent of workforce in major corporate restructuringForeign companies are exiting the oilsands — and maybe investors too • Email: rsouthwick@postmedia.com With files from Meghan Potkins