Harbour Energy has confirmed it is cutting 250 jobs in Aberdeen.
The move will see a quarter of its Granite City onshore workforce axed.
The London-listed firm has blamed the effect of the UK Government’s windfall tax.
Scott Barr, Harbour UK business unit managing director, said it was launching a review of its UK operations which was “unfortunately necessary” due to the Government’s “ongoing punitive fiscal position and a challenging regulatory environment.”
It’s understood staff were informed of the situation at a meeting this morning.
Challenging environment
Harbour, based in Kingswells, previously axed 350 jobs in 2023, again blaming the effects of the energy profits levy.
Mr Barr 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.”
In November’s budget, delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, she announced the windfall tax on North Sea producers would increase from 35% to 38% and be extended by a year to March 2030.
Harbour has been vocal about its strategy to pivot away from the North Sea to build up its international portfolio following the introduction of the windfall tax.
Russell Borthwick, chief executive of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is a devastating blow for the 250-plus families directly affected – and I fear it is just the tip of the iceberg, unless the government changes course.
“The UK currently has a crippling 78% tax on North Sea oil and gas, all while importing record levels of foreign energy – with higher emissions – tax-free.
“The result is 10,000 North Sea jobs lost since the windfall tax was introduced in 2022.
“That’s 25 Grangemouths. And failure to back CCS projects like Acorn is also now putting people out of work.”
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions today, Stephen Flynn, SNP Westminster leader and MP for Aberdeen South, said: “That’s 250 jobs in my constituency gone in the blink of his eye. And do you know who they blame Mr Speaker – they blame the policies of the Labour Party.
“So can I ask the Prime Minister, in fact, can I invite the Prime Minister, to come to Aberdeen and explain to my constituents why he is willing to move heaven and earth to save jobs in Scunthorpe while destroying jobs in Scotland?”
A Government spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with any workers affected by this commercial decision, and we will do everything in our power to support workers and communities.
“The Government has reformed the Energy Profits Levy to support investment and give industry certainty and stability.”
Carbon capture concerns
Following the release of its latest accounts for 2024, Harbour said it was paying more to the UK taxman than it earns.
After paying tax, the firm said it actually made a loss of £69.7m, compared to a £33.7m post-tax profit the year before.
This was due to a “108% effective tax rate”.
Last year, Harbour acquired German rival Wintershall DEA in a deal worth £8.3bn, mostly in an effort to pivot away from its reliance on the UK North Sea.
It is also an investor in carbon capture and storage (CCS) Acorn project at St Fergus, near Peterhead, and the Viking project in Humber.
Speaking about the Viking project, Mr Barr said: “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, which has offices in Germany, Mexico, Argentina, Indonesia, Vietnam, North Africa and Norway, was founded in 2014 and employs 3,400 staff across the globe.
Latest job losses to hit the north-east
The Harbour Energy job losses are not the only jobs blow to hit the area recently.
Last week, UK offshore and subsea technology firm Beam made 100 Aberdeen staff redundant and ceased operations.
Aberdeen business Belmar Engineering entered liquidation and made 48 people redundant last month.
The Abbotswell Road based business had struggled with increased international competition, losses and falling orders, which had an impact on the firm, according to liquidators.
In March, Aberdeen-headquartered well decommissioning specialist Well-Safe Solutions announced it was to cut up to 45 jobs.
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