While BP may be cutting back on its workforce in Warrenville, the city still expects to have a net gain of jobs when all is said and done.

The energy giant announced that it will undertake a worldwide restructuring process and that its suburban Chicago operations will be tapered down as a result. Of the more than 3,000 employees at the corporate location in Warrenville, it is estimated that hundreds will be relocated to either Houston or downtown Chicago, while many jobs may be phased out altogether.

Warrenville officials say that although they are never happy to see local employees go, the city is well positioned to absorb the loss.

“We have a large hotel development with the Hilton Garden Hotel and Liberty Insurance is finishing a new building in the area,” said John Coakley, Warrenville city administrator. “We should be adding more people than we are moving out. There will still be a net gain.”

Coakley said that the BP shakeup will not be an overnight process and will probably take years to complete. However, the city still would rather not have empty buildings or vacant office space in the prime location when the restructuring is finished.

Neighboring Lisle and Naperville face a similar situation with Lucent only occupying a small portion of the office space that it owns.

Coakley said that if BP were to cut a significant number of employees that the corporation would probably consider leasing open office floors or selling entire buildings. BP owns three buildings in Warrenville’s Cantera business park.

“We will be working with BP closely through this process,” said Coakley. “BP has committed to releasing portions of the building if they are not fully occupied. They may sell eventually.”

BP also owns a significant amount of undeveloped acreage in Cantera, said Coakley. The company bought it for future growth potential, but wanted to wait for its merger with Amoco to be completed before any projects were initiated.

Now, as BP attempts to scale back its operations in Warrenville rather than expand, it may sell the extra land to interested developers, said Coakley.