Aberdeen-headquartered well decommissioning specialist Well-Safe Solutions is to cut scores of jobs.
The firm has said that up to 45 onshore positions are at risk and there will also be job losses from its Well-Safe Guardian decommissioning rig, although no figures have been confirmed.
Well-Safe Solutions, based in Altens, has blamed the “knock-on effects” of the Energy Profits Levy for the move.
In November’s budget, delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, she announced the windfall tax on North Sea producers will increase from 35% to 38% and be extended by a year to March 2030.
Well-Safe Solutions ‘hard decision’
The firm said “with regret” it needs to “reduce positions” aboard its specialised decommissioning rig the Well-Safe Guardian.
Well-Safe Solutions confirmed team members onshore and aboard the Well-Safe Guardian were first notified of the consultation process earlier this year via an in-person briefing and follow-up written communications.
A spokesman for Well-Safe Solutions said: “The knock-on effects of the Energy Profits Levy have seen spend delayed on decommissioning across the industry, which is affecting both our rig and engineering activity.
“It’s with regret that Well-Safe Solutions confirms its intention to reduce positions aboard the Well-Safe Guardian while it is on standby.
“We must also resize our onshore team to reflect the reduction in activity throughout 2025.
“We are currently going through a collective consultation process exploring options to safeguard as many colleagues as possible and are supporting them through this challenging time.
“It is proposed that 45 positions may be affected onshore. With the Well-Safe Guardian on standby, we will retain 34 positions onboard in readiness for our return to a client project.
“This is not a position we expected to find ourselves in, but we must make this hard decision now to protect the business ahead of an expected increase in global project availability for 2026 and beyond.”
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Well-Safe Solutions also operates decommissioning rigs, the Defender and the Protector, both of which are not affected by the current consultations.
The redundancies come less than a year after chief commercial officer Christopher Hay said he was aiming to double the firm’s rig count by 2030, alongside further international growth.
Well-Safe Solutions was founded in February 2017, and also has offices in both Australia and Malaysia.
Just last month oil giant BP announced it is to axe about 4,700 staff, more than 5% of its total workforce, as part of its plans to cut costs.
The British firm, which has a global workforce of about 90,000 people, has not said how many roles will be affected in each country it operates in.
An email to staff also confirmed that about 3,000 contractor positions will also be axed this year.
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