Plans to expand a major oil and gas office complex in Aberdeen have been hailed as evidence that the city is “here to stay” as a global centre of expertise.
A planning application has been lodged to create a 20,000sq ft extension at Chevron House, part of the Hill of Rubislaw business park that is the UK home to oil giants Chevron, Marathon Oil and Conocophillips. The development has emerged at a time when thousands of North Sea jobs have been lost or thrown into doubt as a result of the global oil industry downturn.
Maeve Callery, vice-president of commercial development at the site’s owners, the Talisker Corporation, said: “We have been active in the Aberdeen market for nearly 30 years, including the development of Chevron House and the proposed R7 development across the road.
The new Westminster government has signalled that it is poised to unveil fresh tax breaks for the North Sea oil and gas sector.
Ministers will today move to reassure offshore leaders that they remain committed to securing the industry’s future when they meet for the first time since the Conservatives’ majority government was formed.
New Treasury minister Damian Hinds appeared to admit that the £4billion package of measures outlined by the coalition government at the last Autumn Statement and Budget did not go far enough.
The Exchequer secretary welcomed “encouraging” cost-cutting measures taken by oil and gas firms, and hinted that ministers were preparing to take further action to help the industry as it attempts to recover from the global price slump.
Conservative MEP Ian Duncan was in Aberdeen yesterday to highlight the support his party had provided to the North Sea oil and gas industry.
He said a £1.3billion package unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne last month had given the sector – blighted by a global fall in the oil price – a welcome boost.
Petroleum revenue tax has been reduced from 50% to 35% and the supplementary tax has dropped from 30% to 20%.
Speaking at the Maritime Museum, Mr Duncan said: “The tax breaks and support which George Osborne delivered are exactly what the oil and gas industry need to safeguard jobs and investment.
“That is what you get when you vote Scottish Conservative – jobs and growth as part of a long-term economic plan.
The UK has been told to host an international summit that would draw-up a “visionary” new strategy to safeguard the future of the North Sea.
A report by a group of peers has today called for a “step-change” in the management of the sea, including the creation of common policies on the environment, shipping, fishing and energy.
The House of Lords’ European Union committee made the recommendations after holding an inquiry that was launched last July.
The falling oil price has caught-out investors in a retail bond linked to a leading North Sea producer.
EnQuest issued the bond two years ago, offering an attractive 5.5% interest rate until 2022.
The company used it to raise £155million to help develop the Kraken field off the Shetland Islands.
The UK Government has been urged to provide more support to the North Sea oil and gas industry to address claims of a downturn in confidence and job losses.
Sir Robert Smith, MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, has raised the issue with Chancellor George Osborne ahead of the autumn Budget statement on December 3.
He told the Conservative MP that the industry was facing a difficult time, with many projects coming to the end of their labour-intensive phases.
With global expansion of the Scottish oil and gas industry - often through mergers and acquisitions - comes the need to recruit employees and, in most countries, it is more cost efficient to hire locally than to import workers.
