Workers who face losing their jobs in the oil and gas sector will be helped to move into other employment in the energy industry and manufacturing through a new £12million fund announced by Scotland’s First Minister.
Brazil’s state-controlled oil company is reducing management positions and streamlining operations to save $440 million a year as it navigates the worst oil market in a generation and a sprawling corruption investigation.
Oil major BP said it will reduce its headcount by 210 positions in Norway in the next two years. The move comes after 166 job losses last year.
The Energy Jobs Taskforce has had its work extended indefinitely by the First Minister as the oil and gas jobs crisis deepens. The taskforce, which was due to wind up at the end of 2015, will now continue its work throughout this year and beyond. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement after a special cabinet meeting focused on tackling the growing crisis in the north-east.
Statoil is remaining tight-lipped about how many people have applied for voluntary redundancy with the company. Last year the Norwegian operator revealed it had offered the packages to its Norwegian staff.
Plexus Holdings said it expects to make job losses after publishing an issues warning ahead of its half year results.
Halliburton has reduced its headcount by another 4,000 jobs, the company said. The losses happened in the final three months of last year, as the firm looked to manage finances amid the oil price decline.
EDF said it plans to cut more than 4,000 jobs in France by 2018 and 6,000 jobs globally by 2019.
Nicola Sturgeon has refused to publish an update on North Sea job losses despite not having produced one for six months.
Southwestern Energy said it will reduce its headcount by more than 40% in the first quarter as it pauses its US drilling program to cope with the decline in oil price.
Schlumberger said it cut a further 10,000 jobs while also reporting a loss of $1billion during the final quarter of last year. The oil field services company said its workforce has been reduced by more than 25%.
VKG said it plans to reduce its headcount by 500 members of staff. The Estonian shale company said the move was as a result of the low oil price.
Petrofac is in consultation with staff over up to 65 positions on CNR assets in the North Sea. It is understood the jobs are in addition to the 160 confirmed by the company earlier this month.
Sparrows Group is in consultation with its staff over up to 90 job losses.
Aker Solutions is set to reduce its headcount by up to 900 positions as it looks to “reposition” its MMO (maintenance, modification and operations) operations in Norway.
Odfjell Drilling is said to be making job losses by as much as 20% as the price of oil continues to decline.
Job losses could continue throughout much of the year, as more projects are postponed amid the continued low oil price, according to a leading petroleum economist. Professor Alex Kemp of the University of Aberdeen, said the current oil price combined with strong supplies in Saudi Arabia and Russia, was likely to create more pressures on the North Sea.
Bilfinger Salamis said it has launched a jobs consultation with staff over a number of positions.
A leading member of the Scottish Government’s Energy Taskforce said the oil and gas industry needs to be “realistic” about the challenges facing the sector.
An Aberdeen MP has written to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change calling for a meeting after BP confirmed up to 600 jobs could be lost from across its North Sea operations.
The latest Adzuna jobs report confirms what many in the energy, oil and gas industry have suspected – there are fewer jobs available today than a year ago, and the jobs that are available aren’t paying as much as they used to.
MSP Dennis Robertson has defended comments he made while speaking at Holyrood after he was criticised for claiming there was "no crisis" in the North Sea oil and gas industry.
A report published earlier this month by the Dallas Fed has estimated the US has lost around 70,000 oil and gas jobs since a year ago. The figures, which calculate back to October 2014, represent an estimated 14.5% drop.
In years to come thousands of former oil and gas workers will look back to 2015 and say; that was the year...... and most likely finish the line with; I left the industry! There will be variations on the theme; I was made redundant; or I started a new career; I got sacked or hounded out, or perhaps, I retired from the industry.
Petroleos Mexicanos hopes to start 2016 with a plan to become leaner and more efficient. The state-owned oil producer is set to announce job cuts for next year as part of the plan to restructure the company and to synchronize itself to industry standards, interim Chief Financial Officer Rodolfo Campos said in a phone interview Wednesday.