Kuwait To Consider Sacking All Expat Oil And Gas Professionals

Sources in Kuwait are warning oil and gas expat professionals’ glory days may soon be over.

If you’re considering Kuwait as your next career advancement move, it might be wiser to think again as the regular attacks on oil sector expat professionals now look to involve sacking them and replacing them with formerly unsuitable locals. Terminations are expected to start with foreigners in administrative jobs, but are expected to widen to include all expats working in the sector.

By now, most if not all expat professionals in the emirate are well used to being under attack by supporters of the Kuwaitization scheme but, given the specialised requirements including the experience necessary at the sharp end of the oil and gas industry, those in the sector may have felt they were protected simply because of their expertise. However, lawmakers in the National Assembly are now claiming Kuwaiti oil companies are deliberately favouring expatriates over Kuwaiti job seekers with similar work experience.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation CEO Hashem Hashem is believed to be cooperating with the investigation, but is claiming all such appointments were made before he took over his present position in 2018. According to a source, contractors have been filling all open positions with expatriates, thus contravening the government’s nationalisation policy as it applies to the oil and gas sector.

The source added any investigative committee’s findings would need to be implemented immediately in order to prevent questions being asked of the emirate’s oil minister or even the Kuwaiti Prime Minister. In addition, all so-called ‘illegal’ expat appointments will be immediately terminated, with the resulting jobs filled by Emiratis holding the same qualifications as the sacked expats.