Major oil and gas firm to cut 250 jobs from Aberdeen workforce
Harbour Energy said it was taking the decision to cut around 25% of its workforce because of 'the Government's ongoing punitive fiscal position and a challenging regulatory environment'.
The firm recently announced losses after tax of $93m last year, down from $45m profits the year before which it said reflected 'a 108% effective tax rate'.
READ MORE: Nigel Farage 'isn't in office but is in power' warns John Swinney
In a statement, managing director of Harbour Energy's UK business said: 'Harbour is launching a review of its UK operations, which we expect to result in a reduction of around 250 onshore roles in our Aberdeen-based business unit.
'The review is unfortunately necessary to align staffing levels with lower levels of investment, due mainly to the Government's ongoing punitive fiscal position and a challenging regulatory environment.
'We are also reviewing the resourcing required to support our Viking carbon capture and storage project, where progress beyond front-end engineering design and the recent securing of a Development Consent Order has been hindered by repeated delays to the Government's Track 2 process.'
Harbour Energy announced in 2023 it was cutting around 350 onshore jobs out of its 1200 workforce in Aberdeen because of the windfall tax.
The firm has been one of the most vocal critics of the tax, officially known as the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), since its introduction in 2022.
The levy was introduced by the then-chancellor Rishi Sunak following the start of the war in Ukraine with oil and gas firms at the time making record profits.
In July, the UK Government announced the EPL would increase to 38% and would come to an end in 2030.
Russell Borthwick, chief executive at Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: 'This is a devastating blow for the 250 plus families directly affected – and I fear it is just the tip of the iceberg, unless the government changes course.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Scots would pay price for Nigel Farage's proposed funding shakeup
Nigel Farage wants to unleash economic chaos on Scotland. The Reform UK leader made it clear yesterday he does not agree with how public services north of the Border are currently funded. While the Clacton MP insisted he's committed to devolution, he said it was time the Scottish Government raised more of its own revenues. When pressed by the Record on whether he wanted to scrap the Barnett Formula, he admitted he thought it was out of date. The existing system determines the level of public spending in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Under it, extra funding – or cuts – from Westminster are allocated according to the population size of each nation and which powers are devolved to them. But there is a very simple reason why the Barnett Formula has survived for more than four decades. Providing basic public services such as schools and hospitals costs a lot more in rural areas than it does in cities. Scotland's Highland and island communities are relatively sparsely populated compared to the south-east of England, where population density is at its highest. Even the Conservative governments of David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson never dared to rip it up. Scrapping it could cost Scotland billions in funding and lead to brutal cuts to our treasured public services. Farage, yet again, showed why Scots should run a mile from his party. Not Putin up with it Keir Starmer's 'war readiness' defence review was good news for Scotland, the UK and the Western world. Vladimir Putin has shown he has never got over the break up of the USSR. Russia's invasion of Ukraine should have surprised nobody. Defence analysts fear Russia could seek to invade other countries and the West must be prepared. The Labour Government's spending review should be welcomed on a number of fronts. How Starmer plans to foot the bill is less obvious. When the public finances are as tight as they are, every decision has a cost – and pumping billions of pounds into defence will mean other areas lose out. Extra attack submarines, £15billion on nuclear warheads and thousands of long-range weapons will all make the UK safer. Increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic should also set an example to other countries in NATO. Starmer's decision to launch the review at BAE Systems' shipyard in Govan in the shadow of Type 26 frigates being built there was symbolic. Scotland is central to meeting the UK's defence needs and the announcement should safeguard thousands of jobs.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
UK threatens to sue Abramovich over Chelsea sale
The UK government has threatened to sue former Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich to make sure the money from the club's sale goes to £2.5bn in proceeds have been frozen in a UK bank account since the sale, with Mr Abramovich sanctioned after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February UK government wants the money to be for Ukrainian humanitarian aid, but Mr Abramovich has said he wants it to go to "all victims of the war in Ukraine".In a joint statement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "While the door for negotiations will remain open, we are fully prepared to pursue this through the courts if required." They said they wanted "to ensure people suffering in Ukraine can benefit from these proceeds as soon as possible".They added: "The government is determined to see the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club reach humanitarian causes in Ukraine, following Russia's illegal full-scale invasion. "We are deeply frustrated that it has not been possible to reach agreement on this with Mr Abramovich so far".The delay in releasing the funds centres on a disagreement between the UK government and his Abramovich - a Russian billionaire who made his fortune in oil and gas - was granted a special licence to sell Chelsea following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, providing he could prove he would not benefit from the is alleged to have strong ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, something he has cannot access the £2.5bn sale proceeds under UK sanctions but the money still legally belongs to he announced his decision to sell the club, he said proceeds from the sale would be donated via a foundation "for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine", which would include those in Russia. The UK government has pushed back and argued that the funds should only be spent on humanitarian efforts inside Ukraine.A House of Lords committee said last year said it was "incomprehensible" that Mr Abramovich's promise to use the funds to support Ukraine remained unfulfilled, and that the assets remained frozen."This impasse reflects badly on both Mr Abramovich and the government, which ought to have pushed for a more binding commitment," the report said.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Keir Starmer needs you: Britain readies for war
On Monday, the prime minister, Keir Starmer, told Britain it was facing threats that were 'more serious, more immediate and more unpredictable than at any time since the cold war'. It was time, he said, to make Britain a 'battle-ready, armour-clad nation'. As the government publishes its strategic defence review, the former Guardian security editor Richard Norton-Taylor tells Helen Pidd there are still serious questions over whether Britain is ready for this new era. Is the government willing to spend enough to see Starmer's vision through? And even if it does, can we be sure the Ministry of Defence will concentrate its resources on the right things?
