400 North Sea jobs ‘will be lost every fortnight’ – Daily Business

The North Sea could lose 400 jobs every two weeks for the next five years unless urgent action is taken to bridge the energy gap.

A report from Robert Gordon University warns of rapid shrinkage of the UK oil and gas workforce and compares it to losing the entire Grangemouth refinery workforce every fortnight.

Almost one in 30 of Scotland’s working population is dependent on the offshore energy industry, compared to one in 220 UK-wide, emphasising the risk to Scotland.  

With the right investment, policies and delivery, UK offshore energy jobs could grow to 210,000 by 2023, says the report. But without it, job numbers could fall to 125,000 – with Scotland expected to lose up to around 30,000 roles.

The report, Striking the Balance, says there is a widening gap between policy intent and real-world outcomes, as recent redundancies in the last few months have been announced by several operators and supply chain companies.  

Robert Gordon University believes between 125,000 and 163,000 oil, gas and renewable workers will be needed in the UK by the beginning of the next decade.  

There are currently 154,000 people working across those sectors. However, the UK oil and gas workforce is forecast to fall from 115,000 in 2024 to between 57,000 and 71,000 by the early 2030s, according to the report.

Professor Paul de Leeuw, director of the Energy Transition Institute at Robert Gordon University, said the UK’s “lack of joined up action means that the window of opportunity for delivering a just transition is closing”. 

He describes the next five years as a “workforce Goldilocks zone” in which the UK supply chain capacity and capability can be sustained, developed and invested. However, he urged that this can only be done with rapid investment. 

He said the UK needs to “follow the money” and pointed to “massive investor uncertainty” in the negative sentiment for oil and gas in the UK and a slowdown in the wind industry.

“Where’s the activity?” he asked. “That Goldilocks zone is getting more urgent. There’s just nowhere for the supply chain jobs to go other than overseas.”

He said government intervention was needed to get confidence back in the industry.

“The UK’s lack of joined up action means that the window of opportunity for delivering a just transition is closing,” he said.

“Countries such as Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands are already successfully balancing traditional energy production with rapid expansion of renewables, a model the UK could and should emulate.

“Analysis highlights the governments can rapidly put in place policies to better manage the decline in the oil and gas sector, so that offshore energy jobs and the UK’s world-class supply chain can be sustained and retained.”

Prof de Leeuw said the stakes were particularly high for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, where one in four jobs are linked to offshore energy – through direct employment or the wider supply chain.

“With investment at risk and renewables projects facing delays, the findings underline the present-day situation for the UK offshore energy industry and its stakeholders,” he said.

“The big prize of a significant jobs gain is still within our collective reach.

“Inaction or simply slow progress will mean that UK offshore energy job numbers overall could drop by almost 20% to 125,000 by 2030, making the path towards net zero even harder to negotiate.”