More than 20,000 oil and gas workers are taking part in a two-day strike in Argentina.
The move comes after YPF said it would permanently side-line 33 rigs, which would result in 1,700 job losses.
Guillermo Pereyra, secretary general of the Union of Private Oil Workers in Neuquen, Rio Negro and La Pampa, said “the strike will affect all activities” in the Neuquen Basin, which produces 40% of the country’s 513,000 b/d of crude and 57% of its 124 million cu m/d of gas.
Pereyra said the strikes, which started yesterday, could last as long as three days if they did not see an improvement in talks. The mass walkout is in response to the job losses, poor conditions and rise in accidents, according to Pereyra.
YPF stacked the 33 rigs in February, however, it continued to pay the 1,700 people connected to the suspened rigs. But the company has since said it can no longer justify that financial outgoing, which it says totals $100million annually.
YPF produces 45% of the country’s oil and 31% of its gas.
“We are demanding that those workers be re-hired,” added Pereyra
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