Nearly half of BP's 90 Wellington staff members are considering redundancy instead of moving to Auckland when the head office relocates in July.
BP House has been in the capital for 67 years, but a quake in July last year forced the business to leave the damaged building.
Spokesperson Jonty Mills said on Monday the move is an opportunity to merge staff from its Wellington and Auckland offices.
"Wellington was considered as well as Auckland for that one head office location. So it's not about the earthquakes as such.
"Now we certainly respect the fact that everybody has different personal circumstances and it was not always going to be possible to get everybody to relocate."
Mr Mills said Auckland is a more strategic location. Staff moving cities will be helped financially and those who don't want to move will be offered redundancy.
A small regional office will remain in Wellington.
