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4 June, 2007
The Amicus section of newly-formed UK union, Unite, has accused ExxonMobil of an attack on North Sea oil drilling jobs. In a letter to the UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alistair Darling, the union says ExxonMobil’s decision to suspend drilling in the Beryl field for a period of three years will cost 70 jobs.
Unite, the merged unification of Amicus and Transport and General Workers’ Union, is requesting that Britain’s Trade and Industry agency investigate the US supermajor’s decision, and to suspend the company’s license to operate in the field if necessary.
The loss of jobs would affect Aberdeen, Scotland, based KCA Deutag, ExxonMobil’s main drilling contractor at the 40-year-old Beryl field production site. Workers at KCA Deutag, long represented by Amicus, say that over the past year, ExxonMobil has spent more that ₤20 million in preparing rigs for a renewed five-year drilling project.
Unite’s Aberdeen-based regional officer, Graham Tran, said that Deutag detailed the project’s work to staff, guaranteeing they had a long-term future on Beryl field platforms. He said the drilling contractor had instituted a two-weeks-on, three-weeks-off rotation schedule for staff.
“ExxonMobil has now put the drilling programme on hold for three years, which has put around 70 drilling jobs at risk,” said Tran. “The behaviour is disgraceful and deceitful. (ExxonMobil is) being dishonest to the employees, and also to the UK government and the UK taxpayer,” he added, alluding that ExxonMobil just might be attempting to get out of North Sea oil production.
“I am therefore calling on the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to investigate this matter and if ExxonMobil refuses to reverse this decision, then government should take the necessary steps to remove its operating license and make this productive field available to operators who believe in the future of the North Sea.”