BP cuts 350 UK North Sea onshore jobs

Oct. 24, 2007
BP PLC said it will reduce the number of onshore staff and contractors working on its UK North Sea operations by 350 to improve efficiency and productivity.

Uchenna Izundu
International Editor

LONDON, Oct. 24 -- BP PLC said it will reduce the number of onshore staff and contractors working on its UK North Sea operations by 350 to improve efficiency and productivity.

As the UK North Sea is a mature province, the company said, "Declining production and rapidly rising costs have created business conditions which are not sustainable in the long term."

Consolidation of nontechnical onshore support activities will result in fewer organizational units and management layers. BP said this would mean economies of scale and reduced complexity. Most office-based support jobs affected are in BPs North Sea operations headquarters in Aberdeen. "There will be no impact on the workforce offshore or on plant-based positions at onshore sites," BP said.

The move is part of BP's major restructuring of all of its businesses units to reduce overhead and costs and bring them on par with its peers (OGJ Online, Oct. 16, 2007).

The company "will consult with staff over the coming months and into 2008 on how these changes will be implemented and seek their views on how the impact on jobs can be minimized or mitigated," BP said.

The changes will be phased in over the next 6 months as BP maximizes its $3-4 billion annual investment in the North Sea and focuses on safe operations.

Plans for moving staff to BP's new North Sea headquarters in Aberdeen are unchanged, with new operations to start during early 2008.

Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].