Pockets of Jobs Exist in Asia Even as Industry Downturn Persists

Demand for expatriate staff is likely to decline after Malaysia’s national oil firm Petroliam National Berhad (PETRONAS) revealed that it would not offer risk sharing contracts if the price of oil remains below $80 a barrel.

“That will mean that a number of expatriates will not be required and there will be a move to localize Malaysia-focused providers. There will be a demand for Malaysian drilling engineers, Malaysian geoscientists. If you are a local in these markets, your job is still very secure and you can still enjoy a pretty strong salary and rates,” Gibson told Rigzone.

“PETRONAS’ key agenda is the nationalization of talents in Malaysia,” Hydrogen’s Gregory added.

Expatriates seeking job opportunities in Asia should therefore manage their expectations as the region does not have the capacity to absorb job candidates made redundant in the North Sea or in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. 

“Asia … has a lesser capacity to absorb these people and the supply is putting extra downward pressure on salaries for expatriates here ... With Australia also going backwards [as several upstream liquefied natural gas construction projects near completion] it is going to be a very challenging market for people looking for jobs in the region,” Gibson explained.

“We have already seen people taking roles for 30 percent less than what they were working on a year ago; still pretty good money … but it is a buyer’s market, and typically the people who are getting work are the people who are being flexible … If you look at how much people have to discount their salaries it has almost tracked the fall in oil prices,” he added.

Candidates’ flexibility has emerged as a significant factor in the Asian oil and gas job market as the industry downturn has currently provided employers an advantage in filling vacancies, even for work in remote areas, particularly for expatriates.

“Previously, they had to pay foreigners to come in to Asia and even that was hard. Competing against the United States was challenging last year. Competing against the tax free world of the Middle East was also challenging. And some of the projects were quite remote, like in Papua New Guinea. People weren’t that keen but now employers can have the pick of people,” Gibson told Rigzone.


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