Holyrood: Threat to North Sea jobs is worse than thought

The threat may be on a greater scale than previously thought. Picture: PA

A Holyrood committee has warned that the scale of the threat to jobs in the oil and gas industry is likely to be much worse than that Âestimated by the Scottish Government.

In September last year, the Scottish Government’s Energy Jobs Taskforce said the industry “is on an improving trajectory”.

But the cross-party committee said: “Short term prospects, particularly those for offshore workers, appear to be very difficult.

“However, we believe that with appropriate support from governments, and enhanced collaboration, driven by the Oil & Gas Authority, a sustainable industry can emerge from this downturn.

“We also recognise the challenge in assessing the wider impact on the Scottish economy and suggest that the Scottish Government and its enterprise agencies consider whether more work requires to be done to establish the extent of this.”