Sunday September 3, 2006
Good times just keep rolling on for oil and gas workers
MIRI: There is one sector of the labour industry where the rising costs of living do not seem to be able to shake – employees in the oil and gas industry.
While people employed in other sectors have been forced to tighten their belts because of increases in expenditures brought about by rising prices, the good times keep rolling on for these cash-rich oil and gas workers.
Employees in the industry seemed to party on and the more fuel price increases, the more they benefit.
In northern Sarawak, the oil and gas capital of Sarawak and the top producer for Malaysia, employees working for oil giants Shell and Petronas here continue to live the good life.
Their strong purchasing power has in fact helped to sustain the local economy through the past two years when the price increases of fuel and consumer goods have forced the rest of the citizenry to cut back on spending.
In fact, the oil and gas workers in this part of the country contribute enormously to the consumer goods market, the services sector, the airline sector and the travel industry, the food industry and hotel industry nationwide through their spending.
Oil workers in Miri City alone spend RM20mil on airfares to fly out of the city every year.
“The oil workers continue to fly overseas because they can afford to. Increases in airfares, airport taxes, fuel surcharges and the like do not bother them much.
“It is precisely because of the constant fuel price increase that these oil workers continue to enjoy the good times,” said a source familiar with the oil industry here.
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