US oil giant to close Aberdeen office amid wave of job cuts
The company said then that the decision to exit the North Sea was not related to the windfall tax that was imposed on the sector in 2022.
The sale would continue a process which has seen Chevron and other US firms offload North Sea assets to raise funds to invest in areas they decided offered better growth prospects, including their home country.
Chevron sold the bulk of its North Sea assets to Israeli-owned Ithaca Energy for $2 billion in 2019.
It retains a minority stake in the giant Clair field and related pipelines. The assets are managed by other firms.
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Chevron also has technology specialists in Aberdeen who support its global operations. It may have decided that the work concerned could be done more cost effectively elsewhere.
Chevron said the Aberdeen closure was part of a programme to simplify its global organisation structure to improve efficiency.
The company did not say how many people will be affected by the closure.
Chevron's London office is expected to remain open. It described this as an important regional hub.
The bad news about Chevron's Aberdeen office came after other firms announced plans for hefty job losses, which they said were made in response to challenges posed by North Sea tax increases. The rate of the windfall tax has been increased twice since it was introduced.
In May, Harbour Energy said it would cut 250 jobs in Aberdeen citing 'significantly lower investment levels in light of the continued challenging domestic fiscal and regulatory environment'. Harbour cut 350 North Sea jobs in 2023.
In November US giant Apache said it would cease North Sea operations by the end of 2029 claiming production had become uneconomic following the increase in the windfall tax rate in Rachel Reeves's first Budget.
The windfall tax appears to have given fresh impetus to a process of consolidation in the North Sea as firms look to cut costs. This is likely to result in participants axing jobs in areas where their operations overlap.
Ithaca Energy announced plans to make an undisclosed number of posts redundant after merging with most of the North Sea business developed by Italian giant Eni in October.
In December Shell and Equinor agreed to merge the bulk of their North Sea businesses. They hope to secure regulatory approval for the deal this year.
Meanwhile one of the North Sea's biggest players, BP, may find itself facing a takeover bid before long. Investors are agitating for BP's directors to take action to boost the company's profits and share price.
BP operates the Clair field West of Shetland.
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The Sun
43 minutes ago
- The Sun
Rachel Reeves admitted ‘I'm under so much pressure' before tears at PMQs sparked riddle & sent markets crashing
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Sources dismissed rumours Ms Reeves and Sir Keir had a bust-up before noon's PMQs, but claimed she'd had terse words with Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle. Ms Reeves's spokesman insisted her crying was down to personal reasons he 'would not be getting into'. And allies denied she was on the brink of quitting. The Chancellor, 46, was comforted by sister Ellie, a Labour minister, but Sir Keir did not speak to her as she was led to her office next to the Commons chamber. No 10 had to delete a clip from Sir Keir's X because it showed Ms Reeves crying next to him, though it insisted the Chancellor was 'going nowhere'. The PM and Ms Reeves were said to have spoken last night and were working 'business as usual'. Money markets earlier panicked at the prospect of a change of Chancellor and possible abandonment of her spending rules. UK ten-year borrowing costs surged to 4.6 per cent and the Pound fell by one per cent against the Dollar to less than $1.36. Tuesday's gutting of the welfare reforms left Ms Reeves needing to plug a bigger hole in public savings — either by spending cuts, tax rises or borrowing. Squirming Keir Starmer refuses to say Rachel Reeves will be Chancellor at next election after horror Budget Tory leader Kemi Badenoch pounced at Prime Minister's Questions — quizzing Sir Keir about whether Ms Reeves would remain in place. Taking aim at the puffy-eyed Chancellor, Ms Badenoch said: 'She looks absolutely miserable. 'Labour MPs are going on the record saying the Chancellor is toast. The reality is she's a human shield for his (the PM's) incompetence. Will she really be in post for the next election?' In response, the PM did not confirm Ms Reeves would remain in post until 2029. COMMONS MELTDOWN 11.50: Rachel Reeves says she is under 'so much pressure' just before Prime Minister's Questions. 12.00: She appears at PMQs. 12.13: Sir Keir Starmer dodges the question, and Ms Reeves is seen shedding tears in the background. 12.45: Downing Street insists the Chancellor is 'going nowhere'. 13.00: A spokesperson says Ms Reeves was dealing with a 'personal matter'. He would only tell Ms Badenoch: 'I have to say I'm always cheered when she asks me questions or responds to a statement because she always makes a complete mess of it and shows just how unserious and irrelevant they are.' Ms Reeves is said to have been given a ticking off by the Speaker on Tuesday for taking too long to answer questions, to which she snapped back. It is believed he again collared her before PMQs yesterday when she is understood to have welled up and confided to being 'under so much pressure'. A spokesperson for Sir Lindsay did not comment. In her first year in the job, Ms Reeves has faced fierce criticism over winter fuel, welfare cuts, the National Insurance raid, sluggish growth, taxing farmers and taking freebies. Health Secretary Wes Streeting defended her last night, calling her a 'tough cookie'. He told The Sun: 'We are not invincible and superhuman as politicians.' But senior Tory Robert Jenrick said: 'Rachel Reeves's benefits Bill is dead, and so is her career. 'She's been humiliated by her backbenchers and been forced into her most embarrassing U-turn yet. 'By her own metric she's crashed the economy, lost the confidence of the markets and now, it seems, the confidence of the Prime Minister too. It's time for Reeves to go.' 5 5 Yesterday Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden warned about Labour's U-turns, telling Times Radio: 'The process of the last couple of weeks does have financial consequences. 'They will all be taken together with other moving parts in the economy, in the fiscal picture at the Budget. 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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Welfare reform has been postponed, but it isn't going away
In a human sense, it was impossible to watch Rachel Reeves fighting back the tears as she sat, as usual, next to her friend and ally Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister's Questions, and not to feel for her. Nonetheless, and with the best will in the world to her personally, there are some legitimate questions that arise from the welfare bill fiasco, in which she has played a key role. One of those questions, thrown at Sir Keir by Kemi Badenoch, is whether he will keep his chancellor in place for 'many years to come', as he said he would in January. Sir Keir, for whatever reason, declined to confirm that, which must have dented Ms Reeves's confidence; certainly, it didn't help the markets, which saw borrowing costs rise, gilt yields spike and the pound plunge amid speculation over the chancellor's future. Of course, Sir Keir should never have made such a remark in the first place, as prime ministers shouldn't limit any of their personnel options, but his reluctance to repeat it at the despatch box was deafening. We do not yet know the full details of Ms Reeves' role in this latest damaging policy U-turn, but it is plain that, as chancellor, she must carry her share of the responsibility, just as she must for the decision to restrict the pensioners' winter fuel payment, a universally hated move that inflicted disproportionate electoral damage on Labour. One of the obvious reasons why this welfare reform failed was because it was so clearly not an attempt at welfare reform at all but a traditional raid by the Treasury looking for some savings in a hurry. 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The pressure on the public finances caused by ever greater numbers of people claiming PIP, and the welfare system generally, has the capacity, bluntly, to bankrupt the nation. What should have happened is for two comprehensive reviews to be undertaken properly, and urgently, by the government. One would be into the social security system as a whole. The second, also in an area neglected for too long, would be into paying for adult social care. They are of course related, and both would seek to be fair to vulnerable people and the taxpayer. A great reforming government, as this one should aspire to be, could have produced a Beveridge Report for the 21st century, and a modernised welfare state that commanded wide public, if not cross-party, consent. The landslide Labour majority should cement it in place. Instead, the Commons majority has suffered a major landslip towards Corbynism. 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Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
UK bond rout draws Truss comparisons as public finances rattle investors
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