More than five thousand offshore oil and gas industry workers have been laid off in the UK since the end of 2014. The figure was revealed in a report issued Monday by the recently established industry regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).
In its report, the regulator said that the reason for the layoffs was a combination of the low Brent crude price – below $50 a barrel in early September – and the very high operating costs in the North Sea basin.
This has lead to the oil companies looking for ways to reduce operating costs, improve efficiency and remain competitive.
As a result, OGA says, thousands of oil professionals have been let go.
In the document signed by Andy Samuel , chief executive of OGA, the regulator said: “ Regrettably, this has led to the loss of around 5,500 jobs since late 2014 and the OGA, working with other groups such as the Scottish Energy Jobs Taskforce, continues to encourage companies to consider all possible alternatives to redundancy, and retain capability needed for the future.
“These difficult conditions have underlined the need for structural change in our industry and, over the past six months, have galvanised collaboration and action from industry, government and the OGA, of the sort recommended by Sir Ian Wood in his 2014 review of the UKCS.”
Offshore Energy Today Staff