Pekanbaru, Riau (Antara Bali) - The provincial administration of Riau said it is worried with planned lay off by oil companies in that region for efficiency.
The largest oil and gas company in that province PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia also had indicated big dismissal of workers to reduce operating losses.
Acting provincial administration secretary Muhammad Yafiz said a number of oil companies in Riau already laid off some of their workers after oil prices in the world market shrank yo less than US$30 per barrel.
Yafiz said he had received reports of the dismissals but he refused to give names.
Based on official record, there are 85,000 workers of 10 oil production sharing contractors and a number of sub-contractors in the province.
"We could not go too far intervening in the policy of the oil contractors," he said.
He said he was confident , the oil production target in the province could still be reached despite the lay off.
Oil and gas sector is one of the largest contributors to the regional income of the province.
The Upstream Oil and Gas Regulators (SKK Migas) said it has received notification from Chevron about plan to lay off at least 1,200 of its workers this year.
Senior Vice President of Chevron Indonesia Yanto Sianipar said the company is studying all models of business and operations.
"Oil price fall is not the only one forming the backgrounds. Since last year we already started studying all models of business and operations," he said without elaboration. (WDY)
