Qatar Petroleum cuts hundreds of jobs to mitigate economic impact of COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic has destroyed thousands of jobs around the world. The economic effects of the containment measures have led some of Qatar's large state-owned enterprises to reduce their salary costs in order to strengthen their finances to mitigate the impact of this health crisis.
In this scenario, Qatar Petroleum, the world's largest producer of liquefied gas, has decided to eliminate at least 800 jobs. In the same line, the airline Qatar Airways has reduced the salaries of non-Qatari pilots by up to 35 percent, according to a report to which the news agency Bloomberg has had access.
The unprecedented fall in demand for oil last March, along with the ensuing price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, has led to a deep crisis in the energy market. The price of a barrel of Brent oil for delivery in August closed this Monday on the London futures market with a rise of 2.55%, while the price of North Sea crude oil was quoted at $39.72.
This pandemic forced the Government of Qatar to close all businesses and stop all commercial activities, except for essential services; this decision was taken after an extraordinary Council of Ministers. The Gulf airline has been one of the most affected in the region due to the closure of airports and the travel bans imposed to stop the spread of this pathogen.
Another victim of this economic crisis resulting from COVID19 has been the Qatari state-owned sports broadcaster BeIN Media Group, which had already reported that Saudi Arabia was pirating its various signals. This company has cut more than 100 jobs since this pandemic began, including broadcasters, reporters and technicians. One of the world's largest sports broadcasters, BeIN operates channels in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and North America and owns the rights to a number of sports events, leagues and tournaments. "Broadcasters around the world are making incredibly difficult decisions to survive and beIN is not immune," a company spokesman told Bloomberg.
Bloomberg also reported last week that Qatar, which will host the World Cup in 2022, had urged government-funded entities to reduce the monthly costs of non-Qatari employees by 30 percent from June 1, either by cutting wages or laying off workers.
Qatar has followed the same steps as its neighbour Kuwait who announced that it would no longer hire expatriate workers at the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and its subsidiaries by 2020-21, said Gulf nation oil minister and acting minister of electricity and water, Khaled Fadil. Previously, Kuwait had agreed to cut government budgets by at least 20 percent in fiscal year 2020-2021, according to information gathered by Middle East Monitor.