EuropeOffshore

Low price of Brent crude has seen 5,500 UK North Sea redundancies in past year

Britain’s North Sea oil and gas sector has seen some 5,500 redundancies since late last year, the country’s new Oil and Gas Authority has said in a new report.

The 55% decline in the price of Brent crude seen since last June has wreaked havoc on the sector. Shell, BP, Chevron and ConoccoPhillips are among the majors to have slashed jobs in the area, which is also one of the region’s with the highest operating costs for oil and gas extraction. Around 375,000 people are employed in the UK North Sea offshore sector.

“We should be in no doubt about the scale of the challenge ahead,” Andy Samuel, chief executive of the OGA, said.

“Irrespective of the oil price, the UK offshore oil and gas industry needs to change,” the report concluded.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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