Columbus completes dismissal of 15 employees in Spain

Trinidad-focussed oil and gas producer Columbus updated the market on its Spanish subsidiary, Compañía Petrolifera de Sedano (CPS) on Monday, after it began a collective dismissal procedure under Spanish law affecting its employees in Burgos.

The AIM-traded firm said the collective dismissal process was now complete, with the redundancy plan it proposed approved by the vast majority of the 14 affected employees and formally approved by the trade union.

It said the final cost to the company was around €0.41m.

The process was completed on time and the final cost was consistent with the relevant budget approved by the board, Columbus reported.

It said the costs were met from currently available funds.

Columbus estimated that ongoing running costs to maintain the Ayoluengo field on a care-and-maintenance basis would now be around €15,000 per month, which compared to the €60,000 incurred per month since early 2017.

The company said it was awaiting formal closure of the current La Lora concession by the Spanish authorities, which was expected imminently, and was also expecting that the re-tender exercise would begin in the second and third quarter of 2018.

It was the board’s intention to participate in the re-tender, and it said it remained open to bidding jointly with a partner.

“We would like to thank the employee representatives and the trade union for undertaking the collective dismissal procedure in a professional manner and for the swift conclusion of the negotiations,” said Columbus executive chairman Leo Koot.

“We look forward to the formal closure of the concession and participating in the re-tender exercise.

“We would welcome expressions of interest from parties who would like to join us in the re-tender process.”