The Tributary Where opinions & knowledge flow!
105 Woodward Avenue • PO Box 581 • Keenesburg, CO 80643 303-732-4080 • thetributaryeditor@gmail.com
Volume 11, Issue 42
In This Issue:
October 21, 2020
* Page 2&4
70% Of Lost U.S. Oil Jobs May Not Return Anytime Soon
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com As much as 70 percent of the more than 100,000 jobs lost in the U.S. oil, gas, and chemicals industries due to the pandemic may not return by the end of 2021, Deloitte said in an analysis on Monday. Since the previous oil price crash of 2014, employment in the oil, gas, and chemical sectors (OG&C) has become much more sensitive to changes in crude oil prices due to the short-cycle investment and production in the U.S. shale patch, Deloitte noted. “Our multivariate statistical analysis on employment and market data suggests that as much as 70% of jobs lost during the pandemic may not come back by the end of 2021 in a consensus business-as-usual scenario,” Deloitte analysts led by Duane Dickson, US Oil, Gas & Chemicals leader, wrote in the analysis. According to Deloitte’s analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the OG&C industry laid off about 107,000 workers between March and August 2020, apart from widespread furloughs and pay cuts. The lay-offs were the fastest in the industry due to the economic slowdown and the oil price crash in the COVID-19 pandemic. In a business-as-usual scenario for 2021, with oil prices at $45 a barrel and natural gas prices at $2.5/MMBtu, 70 percent of OG&C jobs lost during the pandemic may not come back by the end of 2021, Deloitte said. In a pessimistic scenario with oil at $35 per barrel and natural gas at $2/MMBtu, the rate of recovery in jobs would be only 3 percent by the end of 2021, the analysis showed. In the U.S. oilfield services sector, job losses slowed in August, at 2,600 jobs lost, the latest monthly report of the Petroleum Equipment & Services Association (PESA) showed. Still, total job losses due to pandemic-related demand destruction reached 103,420 in August, with oilfield services employment down more than 121,000 jobs since August 2019 and at its lowest point since March 2017, according to PESA estimates.
Available by Subscription
6 Great Ways to Celebrate Fall in Colorado
Gov. Polis Extends Mask Order
By Chuck Murphy APColorado Faced with rising hospitalizations and concern that COVID-19 is continuing to spread in Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis said Friday that a mandatory mask requirement would continue and be extended for at least another 30 days. During his regular state briefing on the coronavirus, Polis emphasized that while the infection may impact older populations at a higher rate it has resulted in hospitalizations for every age group. Currently, Coloradans in his age group, 40-49, are overrepresented in hospitalizations for the disease Gov. Jared Polis pulls on a face covering after caused by the coronavirus. People in that age making a point during a news conference, group are about 13 perSept. 29, 2020, in Denver. cent of Colorado’s population, but now almost 14 percent of those who are hospitalized with COVID-19. “I’m the most worried I have been since early in July,” Polis said. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has grown by 110, or nearly 45 percent, since Sept. 28, when 246 were hospitalized. As of Thursday afternoon, 356 were hospitalized with the illness caused by the virus. Polis attributed the growth in cases and hospitalizations to “coronavirus fatigue,” acknowledging that people are just tired of the virus, and the restrictions. At the same time, he warned that, with winter coming, Coloradans would need to further minimize their contacts with other people, and “wear a damn mask.” “We’re not through this yet,” Polis said. “I think more of it is behind us than ahead of us, but we need to redouble our efforts.” Polis’s mask order requires people 11 and older to wear a mask when inside a public space or public transportation. But, as he has many times during the pandemic, Polis appeared agitated at the notion that Coloradans need a government order to know that wearing a mask would protect them and their families from the spread of a potentially deadly virus. He called mask-wearing “common sense” and compared it to the spread of athlete’s foot in a gym, noting that, when that happens, everyone puts on shoes for a few days to protect their feet from the fungus. With the coronavirus, the consequences are far worse, he noted. “This ain’t athletes foot,” Polis said. The governor also emphasized the need to avoid crowds as Halloween approaches, revealing that his family intends to decorate a couple of rooms at his home and just trick or treat indoors on Halloween night. Not everyone will want to do that, he acknowledged, so if you go out, he encouraged it to be done safely. “Make the mask part of it,” Polis said.
Postmaster: Send address change to The Tributary Box 581, Keenesburg, CO 80643 Periodicals Postage Pending at Keenesburg, CO
Periodical