Oil prices have fallen 60% in six months, severely affecting
government revenues in Colombia and the broader Colombian economy. With oil
prices showing no signs of recovery, oil companies have already started
implementing cost-cutting measures, cutting back significantly on new
exploration activities.
Now, the conversation
has turned
to the 100,000 Colombian jobs created by the country’s oil industry. Francisco
Lloreda, president of the Colombia Petroleum Association, met with Colombian
Labor minister Luis Eduardo Garzón to discuss the measures that the country
will need to take to avoid massive layoffs for workers in the oil sector. Garzón warned
that the contraction in the oil sector could lead to 20,000 to 25,000 losing
their jobs. Lloreda however insisted that it is too early to start talking
about massive oil sector layoffs until all the facts and figures have been
studied.
In addition, according to the ACP president, union leaders
have already indicated that they are willing to make major concessions in order
to avoid the prospect of layoffs. Regardless, the government is analyzing what
options are at its disposal for lessening the oil sector’s contraction on its
labor pool.
In related news, the results of BNamericas’
2015 Oil and Gas Survey showed that oil industry observers believe that the
Latin American oil and gas sector will be less attractive for investment this
year compared to the previous year. Nonetheless, 80% of the respondents to the
survey said that they believe Latin America will be an increasingly important
supplier of oil and gas over the next decade. Colombia, which for the last
three years had been the most attractive source of oil sector investment, fell
to second place, behind Mexico.
No comments:
Post a Comment