Oil firm suspends drilling work

The company said market conditions had hit its operations

Oil firm Talisman is to suspend some of its North Sea drilling programme, BBC Scotland has learned.

The company said it would be stopping platform-based drilling in response to market conditions and the fall in the price of crude oil.

It has given contractors Odfjell notice of the move, to come into effect from May. Odfjell will continue to provide maintenance support.

It is understood about 185 work on Odfjell's Talisman contract.

Talisman is based in Canada and its subsidiaries operate in the UK, Norway, south east Asia, north Africa and the US.