Govt
unworried by energy sector layoffs, BHP
Billiton downsize
TG
BHP
Billiton’s director of communications and
community affairs Carla Noel-Mendez
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com 12
09 07
Government is not worried about
the downsizing of local operations by three of
the major international
oil and gas companies operating in T&T.
At yesterday’s post-Cabinet press conference
Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert characterised
the recent reorganisations at bpTT, British Gas
(BG) and now BHP Billiton as “internal decisions.”
He said these are large multinational companies
doing business all over the world and they have
a cyclical approach to their operations.
“You may find they downsize today, next
year they might upsize,”he said.
In an e-mail responding to questions
posed to her by the Trinidad Guardian, BHP Billiton’s
director of communications and community affairs
Carla Noel-Mendez on Wednesday acknowledged that
a number of changes are being made in the company’s
petroleum operations in Trinidad “in order
to facilitate our business development and continued
improvement.”
She said BHP Billiton had reorganised
its finance organisation, reducing its “finance team.” She
did not say how many jobs had been cut, but said
that four local staff of the department “will
be taking on new and expanded roles in our Houston
office.”
She said, “this change is
about efficiency and delivering an improved work
product. Through
this re-organisation we have enabled a very effective
mix of globally centralised and locally de-centralised
work functions.”
Noel-Mendez also acknowledged that
there had been “a
few redundancies”- again not specifying numbers
- resulting from the end of the drilling campaign
of the Nabors Rig 657 after four and a half years
in operation in T&T.
Noel-Mendez said these redundancies
are “being
managed accordingly.”
BpTT two weeks ago announced a reorganisation
had resulted in two persons in its communication
and external affairs department being sent home.
The company also combined its finance and commercial
departments.
And on November 28, British Gas (BG) confirmed
that it had retrenched 42 persons, including managers,
about 10 per cent of its local workforce.
Imbert rejected suggestions that
the cutbacks by the three companies might indicate
that they
see declining prospects in T&T.
“Does this concern the government?” he
was asked.
“No,” he responded.
BHP Billiton’s Noel-Mendez said the changes
at her company “are a natural occurrence
as we seek to improve,” adding that, “We
have and we will always continually search for
ways to ensure that our business is operating as
efficiently as possible.
“This change has resulted in some opportunities
(locally and abroad) for some T&T employees,
giving them excellent access to career development.”
Noel-Mendez emphasised that BHP
Billiton Petroleum is committed to building a
long term business in
T&T. She said it is currently producing about
25,000 - 30,000 barrels oil equivalent per day
(bopd), “and the company looks forward to
the opportunity to do further exploration and development
here.”
Commenting on the reorganisation
at BpTT, its chairman and CEO Robert Riley said, “We need
to focus more on the cost management of the business
because inflation is eating our lunch.” He
added that the cost of doing business in the local
energy sector had almost doubled over the last
5 years.
On its layoff of 42 staff members, BG said it
was necessary to put greater focus on the delivery
of existing projects and internal and external
performance targets.
“This new company structure is necessary
to meet, not only our internal growth targets but
also those of the wider T&T energy industry.”
Story
by Verne Burnett from The Trinidad Guardian
The
Trinidad Guardian
Friday 7th December, 2007
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