18-05-2025
Harbour Energy under fire over nearly £1bn in dividends amid job cuts
The North Sea oil and gas firm recently revealed plans to axe around 250 jobs in Scotland – about a quarter of its workforce in Aberdeen.
The job losses are on top of 350 roles that were cut by the firm in 2023.
The firm and union leaders have suggested the Energy Profits Levy – widely known as the windfall tax – is largely to blame.
The tax was introduced in 2022 after companies recorded skyrocketing profits due to a sharp rise in energy prices. It was then increased in last year's Budget and means oil and gas producers are paying a headline tax rate of 78%.
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Scott Barr, managing director of the firm's UK business, said of the expected job losses: "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."
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, meanwhile, said it's clear that the UK Government policy is 'directly leading to thousands of jobs being axed and to decommissioning plans being accelerated'.
But doubts have now been cast on these claims, with campaigners and the Scottish Greens questioning why Harbour Energy has paid out $1.2bn (roughly £910 million) in dividends to shareholders and share buybacks in the last three years alone.
Next week, a proposed dividend of $227.5 million on ordinary shares is also set to be paid out according to a Trading and Operations Update in which the firm reaffirmed its $455m annual dividend policy.
It was dated May 8 – the day after the job cuts were announced.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie MSP told the Sunday National it was 'yet another example of fossil fuel executives pocketing vast sums of money at the expense of Scottish workers and our planet'.
'Time and again, we've seen that fossil fuel companies are just as willing to abandon their workforce as they are to wreck the climate,' he said.
'It's no secret that the fossil fuel industry is in decline, but instead of moving with the times, these companies would rather scrape the barrel for their own profit than be part of Scotland's green industrial future.'
Harvie (above) went on: 'Fossil fuel workers deserve better, they need the opportunity to transition to green jobs in renewables, construction or any of the other vast new career paths opening in Scotland, but that can only happen with support from the Scottish and UK Governments.
'In 2024 alone, there were more than 28,000 green jobs advertised in Scotland, that's more than the total jobs currently directly filled in the North Sea oil sector. The direction of travel is clear for Scotland's industry, and it's time for governments to back a just transition for Scottish workers and communities.'
Rosie Hampton, oil and gas campaigns manager at Friends of the Earth Scotland, also hit out at the firm.
'Harbour Energy bosses have been shedding crocodile tears about the windfall tax, laying off oil workers with one hand and paying out billions to shareholders with another,' she said.
'The numbers show that the money for a fair energy transition is there, but Harbour Energy is more interested in spending it in the boardroom than on their workers in the North Sea. Time and time again, private companies have shown that they cannot be trusted to lead the energy transition, yet both the UK and Scottish Governments are allowing them to run rampant at the expense of workers and the climate.'
Hampton added: 'We urgently need to see the Government step in and lead the North Sea transition. That means investing in publicly owned wind manufacturing, upgrading and taking equity stakes in our ports, and creating a training fund that properly supports oil and gas workers to move to secure, unionised renewables jobs.'
Harbour Energy managing director Barr, meanwhile, 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 remains among the largest producers in the UK North Sea and, while our dedicated and highly skilled people will continue to produce vital energy safely and responsibly, we must take these difficult steps in response to the challenges presented by the current external environment.'
