MORE T&T JOB LOSSES, AS OIL SERVICING FIRMS HEAD TO GUYANA

MORE unemployment is taking place in Trinidad and Tobago, especially in and around San Fernando, as energy servicing companies move to Guyana. 

Long-entrenched companies like Schlumberger, Halliburton, Haztec, and Baker have joined the beeline to the new oil-rich Caricom territory. 

This has led to further job losses in Trinidad and Tobago, and, in particular, in the oil belt, following the 2018 close of Petrotrin, which threw about 2,000 workers on the breadline. 

Oil serving companies have been struggling since Petrotrin’s closure, and most have sent home workers. 

Senior executives began prospecting in Guyana after Exxon Mobil’s continued massive oil discoveries. 

An ExxonMobil senior official in Guyana has said that the servicing companies “feel they are part of that development and to ultimately benefit from the development of that resource.” 

Oil servicing companies are typically engaged in engineering, fluid hauling, maintenance, geological surveying, and non-destructive testing. 

They are usually involved in upstream activities in oil and gas exploration and production processes. 

ExxonMobil, which has around 800 contracted providers, requires the facilities offered by the entrenched T&T-based companies. 

Some experienced employees would be shifted to Guyana, but less-skilled workers would lose their jobs. 

The T&T job losses could amount to 2,000, one industry expert said. 

Trinidad Offshore Fabricators Company (TOFCO) has already landed on its feet, through a joint venture with a Guyanese firm.