ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Husky Energy, the company behind the idled West White Rose project, laid off an unspecified number of workers on Wednesday, as Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore oil and gas industry continues to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Husky Energy has made some difficult decisions and have had to say goodbye to some of our colleagues today. We manage our workforce in accordance with our business plan and activities,” reads a statement from the company.
“Our people strategy revolves around ensuring we have the right structure and workforce to support our long-term business plan. We will not be sharing the number of jobs affected.”
One source indicates as many as 50 jobs could have been affected, but that number was unconfirmed as of deadline.
Industry, Energy and Technology Minister Andrew Parsons says his thoughts are with those affected by the news.
“This is an industry that’s just been battered worldwide. Husky is obviously feeling that,” said Parsons.
“We know that they’ve been affected. What I can say at this point is that we’ve heard from these workers. Even if they haven’t received notice, they feel that fear. That’s what’s driving us to try and figure out a way to help here.”
Previously, Premier Andrew Furey has said the request from Husky for an equity stake similar to what was done to support the Hibernia project is simply too large for the province to accommodate.
The federal government gave the province $320 million from the Hibernia Dividend Agreement on Sept. 25, after months of calls from industry for support. Another $75 million was previously given to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the offshore oil and gas industry.
The statement goes on to say a decision on the future of the West White Rose project will come “in due course.”
Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie says he’s not optimistic about what the decision on the oil project will be.
“Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee. I don’t think there’s good news coming out of their announcement,” said Crosbie.
“I think we’ll see the West White Rose put in mothballs for a year, with a decision pending on permanent shutdown. The reason I say a year is there’s a balancing equation that goes on — the longer it sits there, they have to weigh the cost of total decommissioning, and that’s very expensive, against the cost of going year by year sitting there in reasonable shape.”
