DOHA: Crashing oil prices are keeping large numbers of expatriate employees on their toes. With the announcement of a series of project cancellations and energy companies’ proposals for job cuts, some expatriates who have left Qatar for holidays are returning alone, leaving their families back home.
The fresh round of exits comes as Qatar Petroleum (QP) had announced a few months ago that its subsidiaries too would be looking at ‘right sizing’.
Qatar is, though, not an exception. Layoffs and worries resulting from sliding global crude prices are being witnessed across the Gulf. Oil companies in the region are taking steps to cushion the impact of falling prices with steps like downsizing and cancellation of projects.
On Thursday, one of the leading oilfield service companies in Qatar reportedly announced they could not renew their contract with a European energy company. Its 400-strong workforce has been involved in an offshore project of this company for the past few years. The first batch of the workers are back at their accommodation. The workers are not sure whether the parent company has enough projects in their hand to receive these 400-odd workers, sources told The Peninsula. “They have been asked to stay back at the accommodation. The company is working on how to deal with the situation,” sources said.
Due to depressed oil prices, oilfield service companies and sub-contractors are suffering from a huge drop in their activities. Stories of more job cuts will be unfolding in the coming months. Industry insiders say the oil and gas companies have a target to slash at least 20 percent of their workforce in next two years.
“Falling oil prices are already leading to a reduced spending and staffing. There is a virtual ‘stop order’ from companies,” said a recruiting company executive, who is involved in supplying workers to contractors in energy sector.
An Asian expat working as a middle-level professional with a top oil and gas service company for the past ten years said: “Reports of layoffs are having a devastating effect on expat families. I have been living with my family here for seven years. I do not want my company’s decision to hit normal schooling of my two children. I sent my family back home last month and moved to a bachelor accommodation close to my current project site”
He said some of his colleagues have also sent their families back and many are seriously thinking of doing the same. The expat workforce in QP subsidiaries is a worried lot.
Last September, Industries Qatar announced it had put its multi-billion- dollar Al Sejeel petrochemical complex on hold. In January 2015, Shell announced it has scrapped its plan to build $6.45bn world-class petrochemical project. Qatar’s announcement to scale back its project in the pipeline also hit international headlines when it announced its decision to hold back its $12bn Sharq Crossing Project.
A higher Opec oil output and Iran nuclear deal further pushed oil prices lower in July 2015. Global data suggests that in the second bout of slump, oil prices further fell at least 14 percent in July.
Due to sharp fall in oil prices, Qatar’s budget surplus is forecast to narrow from an expected 10.8 percent of GDP in 2014 to 1.6 percent and 2.2 percent of GDP in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The country’s hydrocarbon receipts is likely to drop 33 percent in 2015, according to analysts.
THE PENINSULA
