Western Australia is faced with the worst unemployment situation in 13 years as oil and gas giant Chevron (NYSE: CVX) axed more than 1,200 jobs from its US$54 billion (AU$75 billion) Gorgon gas project just before Christmas. Unions are arguing that the company had assured the positions would not be made redundant until March.

The Australian reported that over last Thursday and Friday, about 530 electrical workers were sacked. Another 700 positions have been declared redundant at the Barrow Island, the Gorgon gas project site, over the past two weeks, bringing down the work force at the facility by 15 percent.

“As the Gorgon project moves closer to first gas and work scopes are completed, contractor workforces continue to demobilise from Barrow Island,” a spokeswoman for Chevron said Tuesday. “Similar to the construction phase of all resource projects, the duration of jobs is determined by the requirements of individual scopes of work. According to third-party economic modelling by ACIL Allen, the Chevron-led Gorgon and Wheatstone natural gas projects alone have created 17,000 direct jobs in Australia and committed more than $45 billion in goods and services to local businesses.”

Chevron said that due to low oil prices, it is planning to slash 6,000 to 7,000 jobs globally and bring down the capital and exploration spending by billions of dollars over the coming years. The US-listed company indicated last month that Australia would be one of the major sites for job cuts and the employees at its head office in Perth had been notified of the impending pre-Christmas job losses. Around 300 jobs at the head office have been reportedly slashed over the recent months.

The Gorgon project job cut comes after the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed last month that there have been 10,000 full time job losses and 96,000 people are seeking jobs in Western Australia.

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