The FINANCIAL — BP has announced proposed plans for important changes to its North Sea organisation, headquartered in Aberdeen, designed to secure a long-term future for the company's oil and gas business in the UK.
According to BP, the changes are intended to simplify the organisation and improve the efficiency of work processes in response to the challenges of the increasingly mature North Sea, where declining production and rapidly rising costs have created business conditions which are not sustainable in the long term.
"The new structure will mean fewer organisational units and reduced management layers. This will allow consolidation of onshore non-technical support activities, leading to economies of scale and reduced complexity.
Regrettably, the company anticipates that the changes will result in the loss of some BP staff and contractor positions which support its operations in the UK. BP estimates that somewhere in the region of 350 positions could be affected, from a total onshore staff and contractor workforce of 2,100. Most of these office-based support jobs are based in BP's North Sea operations HQ in Aberdeen.
"These plans are an important step in delivering BP's agenda of simplifying how the company is run and ensuring resources are focused on front-line delivery. Furthermore, they will help secure our continuing presence in the UK's North Sea," Andy Inglis, BP's chief executive for Exploration and Production said.
“There will be no impact on the workforce offshore or on plant-based positions at onshore sites.
Plans for moving staff to BP's new North Sea headquarters in Aberdeen are unchanged and the company expects the new organisation to be fully implemented in time for the move during the first part of 2008", BP says.
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