Job cuts averted at Stena with Total contract

Stena Drilling has “pulled back” from major job cuts after securing fresh North Sea work with Total.

The Aberdeen-based firm was planning to make up to 128 workers redundant across three of its drilling rigs, according to a document seen by The Press & Journal’s Energy Voice website.

But a new contract for the Stena Don semisubmersible on Total’s Glendronach prospect west of Shetland has allowed the firm to put this on hold.

The work will last up to 120 days, starting next month.

Managing director Erik Ronsberg said: “The way things are going at the moment we may be rehiring later.

“We were facing a redundancy process, that has now been put on hold and if we get the contracts that we are hoping to obtain we might be in a position to rehire later in the year.

“One of my jobs is to keep up spirits in the company and this helps to keep things quite positive.”

In February, Stena said it was planning to reduce its head count by up to 128 on three drillships – the Stena Forth, Drillmax and Icemax – that were warm-stacked in Gran Canaria due to an oversupply of rigs in the market.

However, with the Stena Don now moving from Norway to the UK, most of the workers on board the semi-submersible were picked from the other rigs to crew it.