Martín Bidegaray
05/31/2020 - 20:57
- Clarín.com
- Economy
The first measure was a salary cut. The following could be some series of suspensions. The coronavirus pandemic is causing disruption in most non-consumer businesses. YPF , which billed $ 675 billion in 2019 , will experience a decline in its income this year, or that it will not grow at the rate of inflation. The board assesses corrections to deal with that situation.
Guillermo Nielsen, head of the company, said the oil company "cannot go ahead with so many employees in the company to produce less oil." Then he clarified that there will be "no layoffs." The unions that depend on YPF came out to criticize, but some modification is studied by the company's senior staff.
The country is headed for a reduction in its oil production. Argentina was around 500,000 barrels a day of production, enough to be self-sufficient and export . But the pandemic brought a decrease.
What is Coronavirus? How is it spread and what are its symptoms?
Watch the specialNo one knows what the level of contraction will be, but it is estimated at a minimum of 20%. In this way, oil production will be 400,000 barrels.
At a lower level of production, companies' needs for workers will fall. Nielsen explained that the number of employees per barrel produced also climbed more than 112%. He said that in 2010 there were 21 people per barrel produced, while in 2019 it reached 44.6 . The oil company today has about 20,000 employees.
Fuel sales are rebounding from April, the first month of the pandemic, but it is estimated that they could only fully recover by October. The implementation of a "support price" (through the Creole barrel of oil, which establishes a special amount for national oil production) would not change YPF's plans. Nielsen explained that the company has its own oil until the end of the year.
As with other issues as well, there are divergences at the YPF leadership about the way forward to control spending. Nielsen has some ideas. Sergio Affronti, the CEO appointed a month ago, works on another script. And the line of managers that comes from before offers an alternative look, according to industry sources.
Nielsen's statements were to Jeremy Martin, within the framework of the XXIX Conference of La Jolla of the Institute of the Americas, which took place on May 19. This conference is held once a year and Nielsen was invited, but the virtual modality was used due to the pandemic. Martin heads the Institute of the Americas, a forum that discusses energy issues, with a special focus on Latin America.
Fuel prices are estimated to be frozen at least until October . With income in pesos and commitments in dollars, the situation of YPF is becoming more delicate in the face of the devaluation of the local currency compared to the United States.
In the United States, the "unconventional" oil mecca, some producers are unable to pay their debts. That country, with a production of 13 million barrels (that is, more than 26 times that of Argentina), most companies are adjusting. New investment projects are also paralyzed.
YPF activity could revive in Vaca Muerta. But most of the great international players are more interested in preserving their current positions than expanding in the Neuquén formation. Vaca Muerta has technical conditions, according to specialists, but "the local legal framework does not help." As the international price of oil and gas continues to be depressed, the possibilities for local production to grow again are diminishing.
"There is a strong coincidence with the CEO who has just been appointed, Sergio Affronti, who is someone who grew up at YPF and also with the different vice presidents who joined the company," Nielsen said, trying to push disagreements between them. " We have essentially the same strategic vision of what YPF should be, which is that YPF should be a gas and oil company. ”
