Tullow oil PLC has justified the dismissal of close to 70 of their workers in Ghana despite revelations that their operational cost for drilling a barrel of crude stands at 10 dollars.
[contextly_sidebar id=”NNpStwXKuTwsKYLtNe1hFaZxzNmo3QYK”]The lead operator of the jubilee field, Tullow Oil Ghana blamed the decision to lay off the workers on the plunge in the price of crude on the world market.
In March 2015, Crude oil prices fell to a six-year low, selling at 42 dollars per barrel for the first time since 2009.
“….We’ve come to that decision because it is the only alternative available to us…there’ve been a mutual understanding between us and the employees around how it is handled ….in terms of how many people have been affected it’s about under 70 people , half of them expats , half of them Ghanaians”, the Managing director of Tullow Ghana Charles Darku confirmed .
But the Minority spokesperson on Energy KT Hammond accused Tullow Ghana of duping the country because they were not making losses.
“I do know for a fact that in our jubilee field production cost is between $10 and $12 per barrel…So there is no way these guys are running out of resources or production cost outstripping their revenue”, the Member of Parliament fumed.
According to the Group Chief Executive Officer of Tullow Oil, Aidan Heavey “the operations cost per barrel of oil here is around 10 dollars per barrel and we are striving to cut that even more. When the TEN fields come on stream next year, by sharing the cost of the two fields, we should get the cost down to 7 or 8 dollars per barrel”.
Addressing the press at the company’s investor forum, Heavey said they considered the cost throughout their operations across the world.
“The oil price falling from a 100 dollars plus to 50 dollars meant that 50% of your revenue vanished… can you imagine any company who suddenly wakes up in the morning and 50% of your revenue is gone, it’s a very difficult position to be in. In Tullow case we looked at cost throughout the whole company, London, Cape Town, Nairobi, Uganda and here. You have to take very difficult decisions for the company. “, Heavey stated.
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By: Rabiu Alhassan/citifmonline.com/Ghana
