Petroleum Ministry directs Tullow Oil to stop staff lay-off
The Ministry of Petroleum has directed Tullow Ghana Limited, the operator of the Jubilee Field, not to lay-off any core technical staff.
A statement issued by Mr Edward Abambire Bawa, the Head of the Communications Unit of the Ministry and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday said Tullow Ghana Limited had in a proposed plan to layoff some workers of the company as a result of the slump in crude prices in the international market.
It said the Ministry appreciated the fact that as a direct result of the reduced world market price for crude oil, Tullow Ghana Limited had seen a significant revenue reduction compared to the same revenue level last year.
“It is therefore understandable if the company intends reducing cost and improving efficiency.
“However it is the position of the Ministry that Ghanaians playing core technical roles in the company should not be affected in the process,” it said.
The statement said Ghanaians working in departments such as Operations, Technical Services and Planning, Project and Engineering, Well engineering and Subsurface and Exploration should not be laid-off.
It said this would ensure that the continuous effort to build and augment oil and gas technical skills and competency among Ghanaian professionals as prescribed by the local content policy and law was sustained.
“The Ministry in the meantime also directs Tullow Ghana Limited to put in mitigation measures to ensure minimal impact on employees by redeploying “employees of risk redundancy” to other areas of the business where their skills could be used or for eventual leavers.
“The Ministry further directs Tullow Ghana to offer a competitive severance package and roll out placement support programmes to ensure that they transition meaningfully after leaving Tullow Ghana Limited,” it stated.
Source: GNA