BP signs lease, will move area workers

BP America Inc., a subsidiary of London-based BP PLC, said Tuesday it plans to move about 1,000 workers from its DuPage County campus to downtown Chicago sometime this summer.

BP signed a non-binding letter of intent to lease space in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange building.

"We're going through a reorganization now and not sure how many workers will remain in Naperville," said BP spokeswoman Valerie Corr.

Last October, the Daily Herald reported that about 3,300 BP employees in the Naperville and Warrenville campus were told the companywide restructuring could transfer many of their jobs to Houston and Chicago or eliminate them over the next two years.

Now they know about how many will move and where, although the company is keeping its options open for other office locations, Corr said.

"We're hoping that this summer, we'll have a signed and completed lease agreement," she said.

The Naperville-Warrenville campus, which also includes some offices in Lisle along Warrenville Road, has various departments, such as trading, marketing, research and support services, Corr said.

"We still remain a large research center there," she said.

Last November, BP planned to sell about 700 company-owned convenience stores over the next two years. That move eliminated about 9,500 BP convenience store jobs and 350 business support staff.

In February, BP Products North America Inc. said it would lay off about 90 employees from Naperville. Those staffing reductions began in April and could continue through June, according to a memo from the company to the city.