Certain oil sector jobs will be lost in the post-pandemic era, raising big concerns for the sector, the head of the Saudi national oil company Saudi Aramco said on Tuesday.
Covid-19 had exposed “harsh realities� for the world, in particular its huge impact on small and medium-sized businesses, and more so on employment, Amin Nasser said.
Nasser’s remarks came during a virtual CERAWeek panel, moderated by Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit, and with the participation of Michael Wirth, CEO of Chevron.
“We were faced with the biggest crisis in a century, but our industry is used to challenging situations. We sharpened our focus on resilience, which gave us the agility to respond quickly,� Nasser was quoted as saying in a company statement.
“My big worry over the long term is a jobless recovery when certain jobs are not going to return,� he said.
In response to a question on the position of oil markets, Nasser expressed optimism and said that “China and East Asia are seeing strong demand. India is also picking up to pre-pandemic levels. (�) There is an impact in the West and the US, but with the rapid deployment of vaccines, we are seeing good cause for optimism.�
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency