Departure of oil rig makes 80 redundant

Press, 21 December 1978, Page 12

Departure of oil rig makes 80 redundant

PA Invercargill About 80 persons were made redundant by the departure of the Penrod 74 oil rig recently and the total will rise to about 100 by the end of January. So far the redundancies had cost the Hunt International Petroleum Company of New Zealand an average of $3OOO per person, said the resident manager of the company, (Mr J. Tatum). Included among those made redundant with the rig’s departure were 56 rig men and tradesmen. A further 20 marine personnel would become redundant when the giant rig reached its first port of call in Papua New Guinea.

At the height of oil exploration in New Zealand the company was paying its employees $195,000, 80 per cent of this being paid in the Otago-Southland area. Local suppliers were paid $lOO,OOO to $150,000 a month, including $BOOO to the Southland Harbour Board, $BOOO to $12,000 a month for docking and labour, and $BOOO a month for dock services.

Freight and personnel costs to Air New Zealand totalled $500,000 a year. At the peak of exploration, the company was spending $4.2M a year in the area and another $500,000 with the Government’s oil corporation.