Davey urges review of North Sea oil sector after BP cuts 300 jobs
ENERGY secretary Ed Davey yesterday demanded an urgent review into the state of the North Sea oil industry, after a collapse in prices that has prompted BP and other companies to cut hundreds of jobs.
Speaking after meeting oil company representatives in Aberdeen, Davey said he had asked Andy Samuel, the chief executive designate of the new Oil and Gas Authority, “to lead an urgent commission, working with industry, to identify the key risks to oil and gas production” on the UK continental shelf.
Samuel’s review – which is due to publish its findings at the end of next month – would “identify what further measures might be taken by government and industry to mitigate them,” the government said.
Plummeting oil prices – they have fallen to around $49 a barrel from $115 last June – have forced energy giant BP to cut 300 jobs from its North Sea operations.
BP – headed by Bob Dudley – said the cuts of 200 onshore staff and 100 contractors were part of a previously announced $1bn (£659m) revamp aimed at simplifying its structure.
BP employs 4,000 people in the North Sea and another 11,000 across the UK.
Trevor Garlick, the head of BP North Sea oil, said: “We are committed to the North Sea… However, given the well documented challenges… in this toughening market conditions, we are taking specific steps to ensure our business remains competitive and robust.”
Fellow North Sea oil producer ConocoPhillips also announced it was cutting 230 jobs in Britain, with its UK workforce expected to drop to just over 1,400 by March. Rivals Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron announced job cuts in their North Sea operations last year.