A north-east MSP is pressing for a Scottish Parliament debate to highlight the human impact of the oil crisis.
Labour’s Lewis Macdonald wants to send a message to the industry over the negative impact of knee-jerk reactions to low oil prices.
He put down a motion at Holyrood as it emerged that US oilfield services firm Halliburton announced plans to lay off 80,000 staff around the world.
Mr Macdonald believes that short-term responses such as delaying or cancelling projects, laying off workers, speeding up cost-cutting and changing pay and conditions will do little to mitigate the impact.
The Scottish Labour energy spokesman fears that cutting back on essential maintenance will could jeopardise infrastructure and future capacity, and that essential skills could be lost.
“There has been a great deal of discussion about the economic impact of falling oil prices, but not enough has been said or done about the human cost of the current crisis in the North Sea,” he said.
“Oil and gas companies are continuing to cut jobs and investment in North Sea projects. However, it is important that the industry remains focused on long term prospects, rather than making short term savings at the expense of essential maintenance or leading to a loss of skills offshore which will have serious consequences in future.
“It is vital that offshore unions are involved in industry’s response to the current threat to future production and jobs, and I welcome the support of unions like RMT and Unite for the motion I have tabled today.”