OIL giant Royal Dutch Shell has announced a further 1,000 job cuts – some of which could fall in Ellesmere Port.

The Anglo-Dutch firm admitted yesterday it had been slow to respond to the global slump.

The group, which has 100,000 staff worldwide, cut 5,000 posts last year.

It had already announced a further 1,000 job losses for this year.

Chief executive Peter Voser said the group would axe another 1,000 posts by the end of 2011 as he presented his strategic update for the firm.

He said: “The company had become too complicated and slower to respond than we would like, so we are sharpening up.”

Shell gave no details on where the cuts would fall.

It employs around 8,500 staff in the UK at sites including Aberdeen, London and the Stanlow refinery in Ellesmere Port, which is up for sale.

Mr Voser said Shell was entering a “new period of growth” as he pledged to turn around years of underperformance.

He wants to grow production 11% to 3.5m barrels a day by 2012.

While record oil prices boosted profits in 2008, they slumped as the recession hit home last year.

Shell has lagged behind rivals such as BP in cutting costs.