wcms_161662

7. Summary and points for discussion
7.1. Summary
7.1.1. The oil industry in context
222. High crude oil prices are relatively recent phenomenon. For over two decades, up until
2001, low crude oil prices affected both international oil companies (IOCs) and national oil
companies (NOCs). IOCs consolidated through mergers and acquisitions and drastically
reduced their workforce in order to remain profitable. NOCs needed to maintain financial
returns to their governments and many confined their activities nationally. In recent years,
combinations of IOC expertise and NOC resources and capital have led to new forms of
collaboration, especially concerning those oilfields which are difficult to exploit.
7.1.2. Employment trends
223. Employment in NOCs has remained fairly stable, as has the mix of core and non-core
workers. Employment in IOCs has been volatile. In the oil and gas exploration sector, it is
estimated that employment peaked at about 4 million jobs in 2004, the gradually declined
to the current level of about 3 million. Many jobs in oil and gas exploration and production
in the United States were lost between 1991 and 2003, particularly those of non-production
workers, as business slumped and companies merged. World oil refining employment is
estimated to be more than 1.5 million, with increases in the Asian region offsetting
decreases elsewhere.
224. Employment volatility led to and has sustained an increase in contract labour, which has
become the norm in the oil industry but not without problems. Issues between expatriate
contract workers and national workers, owing to perceived or real unequal treatment, have
caused industrial relations problems, as have issues between “own” employees and
contract workers at the national level. Of huge significance is the shortage of skilled
workers. By 2010, there will be a deficit of more than 6,000 skilled workers in the oil
industry. This problem has its roots in the job cuts and lack of recruitment during the 1990s
and in the industry’s generally poor image among young people.
225. Employment opportunities for women in the oil industry are increasing, but from a very
low base. Not surprisingly, more women work in the refining sector than in exploration
and production. In the former, women are more likely to have a managerial role, whereas
in the latter, they tend to occupy non-production positions, such as in information
technology and administration. The acute shortage of skilled workers has led oil companies
actively to seek more women workers and, in some IOCs, women exceed 20 per cent of
the workforce. In one oil company, 36 per cent of the women who were recently hired
filled management positions.
7.1.3. Conditions of work
226. Oil workers, especially those in exploration and production, are generally well paid
compared with those in other industries. But there are wage gaps, depending on
occupation, skills and gender. Some workers, mainly in developing countries, do not earn
enough to maintain a decent livelihood. Many others, especially those in NOCs, enjoy a
comprehensive package of benefits, offered partly as a means to retain them in the long
term. Earnings in IOCs tend to be closely linked to corporate performance, although skills
shortages and 24-hour a day operations put upward pressure on wages; recent years have
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