Economic climate forces oil and gas giants to cut back
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Two of the leading oil and gas production companies here will be making major cuts based on the current state of the economy.
In a release on Wednesday, BP Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT) said in line with the Group’s focus on improving efficiency and reducing costs, there are plans to review third-party costs, activity prioritisation, process simplification and organisational structure.
“As plans are still being reviewed, the specific numbers have not yet been finalised. Throughout this exercise our first priority will remain the safety of our people and our operations.”
The other company cutting back on costs is BHP Billiton which on Wednesday confirmed that it is sending home staff.
“Today’s petroleum industry is facing extremely challenging market conditions, even by historical standards.”
According to BHP Billiton, the company is examining current and future business needs to optimise both staffing and costs and make appropriate adjustments in its global petroleum business.
“We remain committed to our ongoing operations while maintaining a platform for future growth opportunities. We will achieve this goal through our productivity programme, which is already yielding significant savings, and organisational adjustments to meet the needs of our business.”
“As a result, we will have a smaller, more focused organisation, and this has resulted in some employee reductions. The result of this work is that within the Trinidad and Tobago operation, as in company locations globally, some positions will be impacted,” the release added.
Last month Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said his administration was moving towards reviving the ailing economy and to avoid going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as he urged citizens “to acknowledge that we don’t have as much as we would like so there are going to be some restrictions on spending”.
Prior to Rowley’s announcement, the then Governor of the Central Bank Jawala Rambarran said the oil rich twin-island republic had “officially” gone into recession.
