TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Incentives needed to boost oil, gas talent pool: Association
Change Size
Workers tighten a drilling machine at an oil and gas block in Indonesia. (Kompas.com/File)
T
he Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) has called on the government to provide incentives to oil and gas companies that are willing to offer internships to students in a bid to boost the talent pool in the industry.
Around 30,000 graduates a year will likely be affected by the recent downward trend in the oil and gas industry, including ones majoring in mining, petroleum and geophysical engineering, according to the Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA).
As a result, it is getting harder for oil and gas companies to hire new personnel, while internship programs are deemed a liability for company operations.
(Read also: Oil, gas sector key driver for economy: Association)
“Therefore, companies and the government need to collaborate,” said Hasbi A. Lubis, a board member for SPE’s Java section, over the weekend during the IPA Convention and Exhibition 2017.
“We have often heard about the incentives given to companies able to preserve their local industrial content. Maybe we also need to give incentives to companies that have been able to develop workers since the beginning,”
With such incentive, he said companies would be more eager to offer internships, which he deemed crucial to ensure the sustainability of the oil and gas industry.
The global price of oil has been in a free fall to below US$50 a barrel at present from more than $100 a barrel in 2013, leading to uncertainties in the sector. (bbn)
