Asco adds voice to calls for George Osborne to think again on oil tax

The firm, which has almost half of its 1,500-strong workforce based in Scotland, is the latest big name to round on the government's supplementary levy, being introduced to fund a cut in fuel duty.

Derek Smith, who heads Asco's Europe, Middle East and African operations, said: "So far, we have not seen any projects mothballed in direct relation to any fiscal regime changes in the UK. There tends to be some speculation with projects anyway on a year-to-year basis.

"However, there is a lot of frustration from customers and the contractor community because there will be an extreme knock on effect if that fiscal regime is put into place."

His comments came as Scottish Gas-parent Centrica carried out its threat not to reopen one of the UK's largest gas fields following the decision to increase the offshore drilling tax from 20 per cent to 32 per cent.

The energy giant said South Morecambe, the largest of three production areas that make up the offshore Liverpool Morecambe Bay gas field, would stay shut following routine maintenance work because the higher levy announced in the Budget now made it uneconomic to operate.

John Cridland, the director-general of employers' organisation the CBI, said this week he had written to Chancellor George Osborne urging him to reconsider the tax hike or else allow older, more costly fields to be exempt.

Asco yesterday booked a further rise in annual profits thanks to its work on high-profile projects including the Gulf of Mexico clean-up.

Newly-filed accounts for the Aberdeen-based company also revealed a 32 per cent jump in sales to 516.7 million, thanks chiefly to a surging oil price. A large proportion of the group's turnover varies with both the oil price and vessel supply market. However, these revenues generate a fixed level of margin. The accounts showed that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation - Asco's preferred measure of profitability - rose 7 per cent to 29.2m in the year to 31 December. At a pre-tax level, profit came in at 5m up from 1.7m in 2009.

Asco has been busy extending its geographic reach beyond UK shores. Over the past five years, it has grown its international business from 10 per cent to some 40 per cent of group activities.

Last year, the Scots firm played a key role in the clear-up exercise that followed the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.Based at a crisis centre in Houston, Texas, the Asco team helped move materials offshore to the scores of vessels involved in the operation.

Private equity-backed Asco is also involved with Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy in Greenland and BP in Iraq.

Smith said the firm was eyeing expansion in a number of areas, including the Middle East and south-east Asia having established operations in Oman and Australia.

"Our base in Oman offers a springboard into Saudi Arabia and UAE, plus we can support BP and Shell as they set up in Iraq," Smith added.

According to the accounts, the group's global headcount grew by 64 to 1,514, while overall staff costs, including pension and social security payments, rose to 54.1m from 51.9m. The highest-paid director received 227,000, unchanged from the year before.

Chairman Mike Salter said: "The global upturn saw greater levels of drilling activity towards the end of 2010 and there is no reason to believe this will not continue throughout 2011 and beyond. Asco is well placed to take full advantage of these developments."