wcms_161662

Table 2.5. Women employed by NOCs in Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kuwait and
Algeria, 2004
National oil company Women employed (%)
Saudi Aramco 2
National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) 6 (Ministry of Energy)
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) (a) 12
51 (Ministry of Energy)
Sonatrach (b) (Algeria) 11 (of which 38 per cent are managers and
3 per cent senior executives)
Notes: (a) The figures for KPC and the Kuwaiti Ministry of Energy are from 2001–02. (b) The Sonatrach figure includes only
permanent employees of 100 per cent Sonatrach-owned companies.
Source: V. Marcel: Oil Titans – National oil companies in the Middle East (Baltimore, Brookings Institution Press, 2006).
33. Many IOCs – which are traditionally male dominated – are also moving beyond their
normal recruitment practices. An acute lack of skilled engineers and technologists to
develop innovative ways of extracting oil and gas in difficult areas is threatening the
development of the United Kingdom continental shelf. In order to help ease the skills
shortage, the United Kingdom Offshore Operators’ Association (UKOOA) is urging the
industry to recruit more women, and this is having some effect. 10 Royal Dutch/Shell
reports a steady increase in the proportion of women in supervisory and professional
positions, from 15 per cent in 1999 to 23 per cent in 2006; in management positions, from
9 per cent in 2000 to 16 per cent in 2006; and in senior leadership positions, from 7 per
cent in 2000 to 12 per cent in 2006. 11 In 2004, ExxonMobil hired more than 2,000
professional employees worldwide, 45 per cent of which were women and nearly 80 per
cent of which were hired outside the United States. In 2005, of the 500 graduates BP
recruited worldwide, more than 60 per cent were from outside the United States and the
United Kingdom and 50 per cent were women. 12 In 2006, 28 per cent of Statoil’s
employees were women, and women held 26 per cent of management positions in the
group. Among apprentices, 36 per cent were women in 2006. 13 These efforts are helping
to raise employment levels but the shortage of skilled people will remain a problem for the
oil industry unless substantial, long-term action is taken by all concerned.
10
U. Izundu: “UKOOA: Skills shortage worries UK oil industry”, in Oil & Gas Journal, 9 Nov.
2006.
11 Shell Sustainability Report, 2006.
12
T. Nicholls: “The big crew change”, in Petroleum Economist (London, 2006), Vol. 73, No. 3,
Mar. 2006.
13 Statoil Annual Report, 2006.
20 TMOGE-R-[2008-12-0110-1]-En.doc/v3