North Sea oil industry facing challenges amid job losses

Confidence levels among oil and gas contractors across the North Sea are now standing at an all-time low and job losses are set to continue next year, an industry report revealed on Thursday.

Four in five contractors questioned said they were less confident in their prospects than they were a year ago, compared with just one percent who were more confident, according to the latest Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce Oil and Gas survey.

The survey also indicated hundreds of further job losses were looming in the North Sea, where firms have already done away with around 5,500 posts amid the crude price plunge.

Some 64 percent of firms reduced their workforce this year compared to just 14 percent who increased numbers. Overall, 85 percent of respondents said they thought job losses would continue over the next year, it added.

While the survey's findings were seen as the most negative since it began, experts also detected "some glimmers of hope" and insisted a long-term future still existed for the sector.

Some 78 percent of firms said they expected to be more involved in decommissioning work in the next three to five years while nearly half expected greater involvement in renewables, showed the survey.

James Bream, research and policy director at the chamber, termed the low confidence levels being reported as "no surprise" with the outlook suggesting more pain ahead for the sector. However, he maintained that "a long-term future still exists for the sector." Endite