Shell to cut 250 North Sea oil jobs as oil prices plummet
Oil giant Shell has said it will shed around 300 North Sea oil and gas jobs as part of a cost management drive.
"The North Sea has been a challenging operating environment for some time," Paul Goodfellow, Shell's upstream vice president for the UK and Ireland at, said.
"Reforms to the fiscal regime announced in the budget are a step in the right direction, but the industry must redouble its efforts to tackle costs and improve profitability if the North Sea is to continue to attract investment."
"Current market conditions make it even more important that we ensure our business is competitive. Changes are vital if it is to be sustainable. They will be implemented without compromising our commitment to the safety of our people and the integrity of our assets."
This latest round of job cuts will be in addition the 250 redundancies announced by the company in August.
The North Sea oil industry has suffered amid tumbling oil prices which fell as low as $45 per barrel in January, down from a peak of around $106 per barrel in June. The black stuff was last trading at around $58 per barrel.
This oil price decline has eaten into the margins of companies such as Shell prompting them to cut costs.
Earlier this year BP axed 300 North Sea oil jobs as the company embarked on a £640m restructuring exercise.
