AN OFFSHORE union has warned of long-term damage to the country’s energy sector after oil giant BP posted a 51 per cent drop in profits and announced a further 3,000 job cuts.
Shares in the oil giant tumbled more than nine per cent after it said its profits had fallen to £4.1 billion, compared to £8.4bn in 2014, after a dramatic slide in oil prices.
Shell, which reports its annual results tomorrow, saw its shares fall by more than three per cent yesterday.
The RMT union said the job cuts came without assessing the longer-term implications for safety and assets, and there could be further attacks on its members and their pay and conditions.
The 3,000 jobs to go – including in refining, marketing and distribution – will be cut by the end of next year, and come on top of 4,000 lost last year.
RMT’s general secretary, Mick Cash, said: “The grim news for Britain’s vital offshore energy industry continues to pile up and the human cost of this is becoming clearer as livelihoods are destroyed and decent working conditions in our safety-critical environment are undermined.
“RMT will be working with our sister unions in the offshore field, and the Scottish TUC, to mobilise the maximum possible industrial, political and public support for our lifeline energy industry.”
BP’s chief executive, Bob Dudley, said: “We are continuing to move rapidly to adapt and rebalance BP for the changing environment.”
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