Petrol Labour Market Information (PetroLMI) is a division of Energy Safety Canada. PetrolMI specializes in providing petroleum labor market data and insights, as well as occupation profiles and other resources for workforce and career planning.
PetrolMI’s report, released on Tuesday, says Canada’s direct employment numbers in the oil and gas sector are expected to drop by over 12,00 jobs this year, according to CBC Canada.
The oil and gas industry saw employment flatten during and following the 2014-2016 commodity price collapse – although direct employment at the end of 2018 was only down slightly, from 186,300 workers at the end of 2016 to about 185,800. The 12,500 jobs at risk in 2019 are due to several factors, says PetrolMI in its 2019 Labour Market Update report.
Canada’s oil and gas sector to lose 12,500 jobs this year, PetroLMI report predicts VuOn3lgnoh
— Financial Post (@financialpost) April 8, 2019
Factors affecting the employment outlook for 2019 include low commodity prices, a decline in capital spending, and uncertainty over market access. All these actors impact spending projections for conventional exploration and production (E&P), oil sands, oil and gas services, and pipeline sub-sectors.
“Until such time as additional export capacity becomes available, the employment outlook for Canada’s oil and gas sector will continue to be impacted,” said Carol Howes, Vice President of Communications and PetroLMI, Energy Safety Canada.
Interestingly, while job risks in oil and gas services will be high, with Alberta facing 9,800 job losses due to lower activity driven by lower capital investment, the pipeline sub-sector is actually expected to grow slightly, with British Columbia expected to see gains in workers in the sector, reports the Financial Post.
