Join now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
BUENOS AIRES, September 23 (Reuters) – Unions representing thousands of striking oil workers in Argentina demanded talks with company bosses on job security on Friday, the day after a walkout to protest an explosion at a refinery that killed three people, a union leader said. .
“From 2018 to date, 15 colleagues have died. It’s a job, not a war in which to die,” said Marcelo Rucci, secretary general of the Rio Negro, Neuquén and La Pampa Private Petroleum and Gas Syndicate, the country. largest oil syndicate.
“We cannot continue to lose lives to meet disproportionate production targets,” added Rucci, whose union represents some 25,000 workers, including some employed in the valuable Vaca Muerta shale oil fields in the western province. of Neuquen.
Join now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Workers knocked down their tools on Thursday after a fire in a storage tank caused an explosion at the New American Oil (NAO) refinery in the town of Plaza Huincul in Neuquen. Read more
The Argentine government is investing in infrastructure projects it considers essential to help the South American country reverse a deep energy deficit that is costing it billions of dollars.
Vaca Muerta, home to the world’s second-largest unconventional gas reserve and the fourth-largest oil reserve, is expected to bring in $2 billion in revenue from oil exports this year, five times more than last year. Read more
Join now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Reporting by Eliana Raszewski; Editing by Paul Simao
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.