UK to set up oil and gas support group

UK Prime Minster David Cameron is planning to set up a support group for the North Sea oil and gas industry, according to the Financial Times (FT).

Operations off the Scottish coast have been hit as the oil price dipped below US$30/bbl, and BP announced 600 North Sea job cuts in the past week.

The group is expected to be chaired by Oliver Letwin, minister for government policy, but is also expected to include Fergus Ewing, the Scottish National Party (SNP) business minister in the Edinburgh government, and Anna Soubry, the UK business minister.

Soubry told the FT, “The oil and gas industry has been a big contributor to the UK economy but as the price of oil continues to tumble to new lows, this will be a difficult time for the industry. We are determined as a government that we do all we can to help this important sector weather the current global economic storms, which is why we’re setting up this cross-government group.”

A spokesperson for the offshore industry representative, Oil & Gas UK told The Chemical Engineer, “We welcome high level engagement in the issue of how the low oil price is impacting the oil and gas industry.”