Joseph Bakare/Yemisi Izuora
Despite the negative effect of crashing oil prices in the global market which is forcing international oil companies to cut production cost and lay offs, the Managing Director of Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Mr. Nicolas Terraz, has assured the workforce that the company will not downsize its workforce in Nigeria and other locations.
Speaking when he met with the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, Mr. Denzil Kentebe, in Abuja, Terraz said the company had taken steps to cut costs in view of the fallen oil prices.
Some of these strategies, aimed at avoiding job cuts, according to him, include improving efficiency, eliminating waste, reducing expatriate workforce and accelerating succession plans for Nigerian understudies.
The Managing Director called for an industry effort to reduce the long contracting cycle, which he believes contribute to the escalation of project costs.
