BP to cut 20% of North Sea staff as oil price bites

Oil giant BP said it plans to cut around 6,000 jobs in its global production division, 600 of which will be at its North Sea operations, as it looks to combat sliding oil prices.

The company said the move will reduce the upstream headcount to below 20,000 by the end of the year.

A spokesman for BP said about 600 of the 3,000 employees and agency North Sea workers will be made redundant as a result of “toughening market conditions”, with most of the cuts taking place this year.

However, it insisted that it remains committed to the North Sea.

Regional president for BP North Sea, Mark Thomas, said: “We are continuing to invest around $2bn (£1.39bn) of capital into North Sea projects and a further $2bn in running our North Sea operations."

"This will sustain many hundreds of jobs both in BP North Sea and our supply chain going forward. However, in toughening market conditions and given the well-documented challenges of operating in this maturing region, we need to take specific steps to ensure our business remains competitive and robust.”

At 1140 GMT, BP shares were up 1% to 331.45p.