Oil crisis ‘is biggest threat to jobs since Ravenscraig axed’

THE haemorrhaging of oil industry jobs threatens to be the biggest blow to Scotland since the closure of Ravenscraig 23 years ago.

According to new analysis, of 35,000 oil and gas jobs set to be lost, 15,750 are expected to go in Scotland, equivalent to one in 12 of those working in the North Sea sector.

Scottish Labour called for a resilience fund to help struggling oil firms.

The problems have been exacerbated by the falling price of oil, which was $51 a barrel yesterday – less than half the SNP’s prereferendum forecast.

That has been good news for motorists and the SNP is pushing for reductions in the cost of heating homes. Nicola Sturgeon met Scottish Power representatives yesterday and Energy Minister Fergus Ewing wrote to the major companies urging them to cut bills. But Scottish Labour energy spokesman Jackie Baillie said more needed to be done.

‘The industry and economic experts predict that up to one in 12 oil jobs are at risk,’ she said.

‘These are not only people who directly work in the industry but the local economies in the North-East, and people across Scotland who work in the supply chain. We need action and we need action now.

‘This crisis is the biggest threat to Scots jobs since Ravenscraig and the Scottish Government has been nowhere to be seen.’

The plunging oil price has laid bare the SNP’s pre-referendum claims, with the Scotland Office estimating that a Yes vote would have cost the country more than £15billion by 2019 at the current level. But Mr Ewing criticised the ‘mismanagement of oil and gas fiscal policy by the UK Government’, adding: ‘ We must tackle on-going cost pressures and the fall in oil prices head on.

‘That is why today we are publishing a report setting out a range of taxation changes and we will now consult closely with industry on these proposals.’

The Scottish Tories said that the governments in Edinburgh and London should be working together to help those affected.

A UK Government spokesman said: ‘We have already produced a number of positive initiatives – such as brown field allowances and new field allowances.

‘The Chancellor also used the Autumn Statement to announce a 2 per cent reduction in the supplementary charge on oil and gas production profits.’