More than 100,000 oil gas support workers laid off

By Godang Sitompul

More than 100,000 workers of the manufacturing industries that support the country?s oil and gas business have been laid off due to job cutting program amid oil price drops, upstream authority SKK Migas said.

The laid-off workers were employed in ship and rig fabrication and pipeline industries, mostly based in Batam, Riau Archipelago province. The firms were forced to lay off their workers due to the lack of orders from oil and gas upstream industry, SKK Migas? Head Amien Sunaryadi said.

The firms still employ some workers to complete the remaining works based on the contracts they received last year, Amien said.

?Shipyards and fabrication industry are the ones that have shed the largest number of workers, mostly part-time workers because they receive no orders,? Amien told Petromindo.com

Amien said he saw himself some shipyards and jack up rig fabrication plants in Batam which are left idle as they have laid off workers.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon