BP axes 300 North Sea oil jobs
Oil giant BP has told staff today that it is shedding 300 positions at its North Sea operation. BP will cut 200 jobs and 100 contractor roles.
The briefing, which was be held in Aberdeen, comes after the FTSE 100 company announced in December that it would look to restructure in the wake of the collapsing oil price. The restructuring could cost as much as £640m.
Brent crude has collapsed by more than 57 per cent since the summer, from in $110 to under $50.
The company employs close to 4,000 people in the North Sea and another 11,000 across the UK. It could also cut pay for contractors.
BP has already confirmed job losses in its back-office functions in the UK and the US. Energy Secretary Ed Davey said the government would do all it can to reduce job losses in the oil and gas industry.
Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon has argued for the government's charge on the oil and gas industry to be abolished. On Monday, Oil & Gas UK said the chancellor must drop taxes on North Sea oil and gas firms as quickly as he raised them
BP has been reducing its size ever since the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico back in 2010.
