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"Shell UK plans to reduce the number of staff
and agency contractors who support the company's UK North Sea
operations by at least 250 in 2015," Shell said in an emailed
statement.
The reduction is in addition to 250 job losses announced in
August, Shell said, and follows North Sea job cuts by BP <BP.L>,
Talisman Sinopec, Chevron and ConocoPhillips.
Britain's North Sea oil and gas sector employs over 400,000
people and is worth about 5 billion pounds ($7.47 billion) a
year to the state. But investment activity has stalled due to a
combination of high costs, high taxes and falling oil prices.
Last week, Britain announced a raft of oil tax cuts and an
investment allowance with the aim of stimulating investment and
production, heeding calls for help from battered North Sea oil
and gas companies battling high costs and the price slump.
While these measures were broadly welcomed by the industry, some
participants expressed reservations about whether they were
sufficient to make a material difference without a rebound in
the oil price.
Paul Goodfellow, upstream vice president for the UK and Ireland
at Shell, said that while reforms to the fiscal regime were a
"step in the right direction", the industry needed to redouble
its efforts to tackle costs and improve profitability if the
North Sea was to continue to attract investment.
Shell also said that a decision had been made in principle to
move to an "even time rota". As a result, a three weeks on,
three weeks off shift pattern - as opposed to the more
traditional two weeks on, two or three weeks off - will be put
forward for consultation with the staff committee.
Trade unions Unite and GMB are already balloting their members
working offshore to gauge appetite for strike action over
changes to shift patterns, which have already been introduced by
some operators.
"We think this cancer will spread throughout the North Sea,"
said John Taylor, regional industrial organizer at Unite. "We
are totally opposed to the introduction of three on, three off."
The ballot will close on March 27. "We expect an overwhelming
majority in favor of strike action," he said.
(Reporting by Alex Lawler and Claire Milhench; editing by Susan
Thomas)
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