EnergyBC

Employment Opportunities (more...)

Offshore oil and gas development creates significant employment in a variety of areas including a variety of high-technology positions. The issue is what access local residents will have to these jobs and how long the jobs will last. The choice of production methods, in addition to type and quantities of resources being extracted, is key to establishing long-term employment.

Due to the cyclical nature of the oil and gas industry, it is easiest to break down the type, nature and amount of jobs generated into the four main phases of production:

1. Exploration	- lowest total employment, short-term employment
	- highly specialized equipment and expertise
2. Development	- largest total number of jobs, however jobs are still considered to be short-term
3. Production	- greatest opportunity for long-term local employment, although the total number of people employed is likely lower than in the development stage
4. Decommissioning	- since structures are designed knowing that they will be decommissioned at the end, little time and labour is required in this phase
NAFTA	- the North American Free Trade Agreement restricts the ability of governments to impose regulations such as requiring a company to hire only local workers
	- the BC government may need to compensate oil companies if they wish to ensure that the majority of offshore jobs go only to British Columbians

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