Nicola Sturgeon has admitted the oil industry in the north-east is now in crisis – despite one of her own MSPs claiming it was “booming” just days ago.
The First Minister said the situation in the region was “very serious” and said the Scottish Government was “doing everything it can” to help the industry.
Her comments come in a week which saw Petrofac announce up to 160 positions would go, followed by BP’s decision yesterday to reduce 600 roles from its North Sea operations.
Her comments have also been made less a week after Aberdeenshire SNP MSP Dennis Robertson said there was “no crisis” and that the industry’s workforce was “booming”.
He later clarified his remarks, suggesting he “could have expressed (himself) better”.
Scottish Labour has demanded the Scottish Government outline its strategy to alleviate the crisis – but Ms Sturgeon defended her administration’s record.
She said: “For anybody who is faced with losing their job that of course is a crisis and for any company that is faced with making redundancies then that (a crisis) is the case.
“We take very seriously the current situation and the reason I established the task force last January was so that we could play our part in helping individuals.
“One of the issues the task force has been focused on is working with PACE to provide support and advice for people and we have also taken steps to guarantee the apprenticeships of a young people working in the sector.
“The task force is also working with the sector to provide help and support as it makes some of the changes to reduce the cost of production and become more efficient.
“We will remain focused on doing everything we can.”
“I think it is important though – without trying to underplay the importance and the seriousness of the situation in the North Sea – it is also important to point out as Oil and Gas UK has, and BP has also done, that if we do the right things now the North Sea sector continues to have a strong future ahead of it.”
Labour MSP for the north-east Lewis Macdonald said: “Dennis Robertson, like the rest of his party, is in denial over what is happening due to the price of Brent crude having plummeted to just over $30 a barrel when the SNP were building an economic strategy based on the price staying at $113.
“That folly has now been fully exposed with other commentators such as Morgan Stanley predicting the oil price could fall to a disastrous $20 a barrel.
“With so many jobs being lost in the north-east, and no sign of a recovery any time soon, it is time to reconvene the oil summit held just under a year ago and for the SNP Government to spell out what their strategy is for dealing with this major crisis.”
To read Professor Alex Kemp’s take on the job losses click here.
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