A major North Sea oil company is to axe 450 jobs after announcing plans to reduce its workforce by a third.

ConocoPhillips, which employs 1,300 people across its onshore and off-shore operations, intends to cut 450 jobs in the UK by April 2020. Around 700 employees work at its base in Aberdeen.

The US company operates in oil and gas basis around the world and has its corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas in the US.

The company said it was too early to say which locations would be affected, but said cuts would begin in October.

A spokeswoman for ConocoPhillips said: “It is anticipated that around 450 positions will be lost across ConocoPhillips’ UK assets between October 1 and April 2020.

“This is following a voluntary redundancy programme being carried out due to cessation of our southern North Sea production through the Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal later this year.”

The North Sea oil and gas industry has been under increasing pressure in recent years, with thousands of jobs cut and platforms shutting down due to oil prices going in the wrong direction.

North Sea oil giant to axe 450 jobs in UK