North Sea jobs warning on scale ‘like closing Grangemouth every week’

Offshore firms and the GMB trade union want Prime Minister Keir Starmer to change course.

By Adele Merson

September 30 2024, 11:24 am

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a backlash over his plan to end future North Sea exploration. Image: PA.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer risks North Sea job losses on a scale similar to closing the Grangemouth oil refinery nearly every week for five years, warn industry and union leaders.

Offshore firms and the GMB trade union said the new UK Government left the oil and gas sector “facing a cliff-edge” for investment, production and jobs.

Labour has pledged to block new licences to explore new oil and gas fields, sparking alarm among energy figures in Aberdeen.

In a statement, Offshore Energies UK chief David Whitehouse, GMB general secretary Gary Smith and Association of British Independent Exploration Companies chief Robin Allan warned plans to end North Sea drilling risk catastrophic job losses.

David Whitehouse, chief executive of Offshore Energies UK. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson.

They said questions remain about whether oil and gas would be produced domestically or imported “in an increasingly volatile world.”

Writing jointly for The Times, they said: “Imagine the equivalent of a Grangemouth refinery closing nearly every week from 2025 to 2030.

“No one should leave that unchallenged.”

Grangemouth closure

Earlier this month, bosses at Petroineos, who own the Grangemouth site, confirmed the refinery will close in the second quarter of 2025, with the loss of 400 jobs.

At the weekend, Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the Unite union, branded the planned closure a “horrific act of industrial vandalism”.

She added: “Grangemouth is making net zero look far from a just transition, more a jobless transition.”

Labour has already committed to increase the controversial windfall tax on oil and gas profits, to 78%, extending it until at least 2029 and removing investment allowances.

Unite union reps and oil and gas workers in Aberdeen calling on Labour to drop its policy of banning new North Sea exploration until a place to replace jobs is operational. Image: Unite.

But this has been met with a strong reaction from North Sea firms and industry leaders, who said the policy changes would “hasten the demise” of the UK oil and gas sector.

Douglas Lumsden, North East Tory MSP, said: “Offshore bosses and unions are right that Labour have abandoned the industry and are prepared to throw tens of thousands of workers under a bus.”

A spokesman from the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “The government has a non-negotiable commitment to securing a proud future for the North Sea and we are engaging with industry, workers, trade unions and civil society to provide certainty through a phased and responsible transition.

“Our National Wealth Fund and Great British Energy will work in lockstep with industry to unleash private investment — helping create thousands of jobs in clean energy to boost our energy independence.”