Feb 18 (Reuters) - An oil and gas workers' union in

Argentina's oil-rich Chubut province threatened to strike on

Tuesday after Halliburton ( HAL ) laid off hundreds of workers and

decided to close its local office.

Speaking on the union's broadcast radio channel, Carlos

Gomez, deputy secretary of the Chubut Private Oil and Gas Union,

said the company walked back commitments to maintain staffing

levels and laid off 290 workers on Monday night without prior

notice to the union.

Chubut is Argentina's second-largest oil-producing province

with an output of about 7.4 million cubic meters in 2024, about

20% of the country's total production.

Companies like state oil firm YPF have been selling mature

oil field assets to focus on the country's massive Vaca Muerta

region, one of the world's largest shale oil and gas formations.

Halliburton ( HAL ) did not immediately respond to a request for

comment, but Gomez said the company blamed the layoffs on

reduced work in the area and its inability to guarantee profits.

The union filed a complaint with the regional labor

authorities and requested a mandatory conciliation to reach an

agreement with Halliburton ( HAL ) by Friday.

"If the mandatory conciliation ends without Halliburton ( HAL )

fixing the problem with the nearly 300 fired workers, both

unions will go on a general strike in all oil and gas fields,"

Gomez said. The union represents about 8,000 workers.

The union would join workers in neighboring Santa Cruz

province who have been on strike since last week to halt YPF's

departure from the area, which produces about 10% of the

country's oil.