Two oil service giants employing thousands of people in the Aberdeen area said yesterday that jobs will go as the worldwide economic slump began to take its toll on the energy industry.
Schlumberger confirmed that 80 posts would be lost in the UK – most of them in the north-east.
Halliburton said several North Sea platform projects had been deferred due to the low oil price, and it will have to cut worker numbers in areas experiencing significant activity declines.
Schlumberger employs more than 2,000 people in the Aberdeen area, and news of the job cuts was broken to staff yesterday.
Spokeswoman Gen Herga said: “Reducing staff numbers and reviewing future staffing requirements has unfortunately become a necessity in today’s challenging economic climate.
“Eighty positions are being eliminated in the UK North Sea area as a result of the reduced level of activity in the oilfield services sector.”
Halliburton declined to comment on the impact of the job cuts on the north-east when contacted by the Press and Journal.
It currently employs about 2,000 people in the area.
Offshore Contractors’ Association chief executive Bill Murray said: “It is important to bear in mind that this is a cyclical industry.
“We need to be mindful that people in the industry are our main asset and that we need to make sure we examine every area we can to reduce costs while protecting jobs.
“We must protect our asset base and not reduce it beyond what we need when the recovery occurs.”
Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future chairman Tom Smith said: “In the current climate with an oil price that has considerably dipped from its highs of last year, it is inevitable that we are starting to see oil and gas companies defer projects and make savings through reductions in jobs. The North Sea is a high-cost province and there may be more restructuring within companies in response to the lower oil price as the year progresses.”
Gordon Liberal Democrat MP Malcolm Bruce said it was unsurprising some projects brought forward to capitalise on the boom when the oil price was high were now being put back.
SNP energy spokesman Mike Weir called for more UK Government support for the offshore industry to retain jobs and be ready for the upturn.
It emerged earlier this month that more than 100 jobs could be at risk at a North Sea drilling contractor following Talisman Energy’s decision to put its platform drilling in the region on hold. Sources close to Odfjell Drilling UK in Aberdeen said staff had been informed that 110 out of 175 offshore personnel would lose their jobs and a further 20-30 onshore staff would go. More than 100 north-east jobs are also at risk at service firm Baker Hughes Inteq.
On Friday, another service company, Wood Group Engineering (North Sea), said more than 1,000 North Sea contractors would see their pay cut by an average of 10% as oil companies felt the impact of lower crude prices.
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