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Enterprise Oil job fears

It is the latest setback for a troubled oil industry which has been hammered by a slump in prices.

Some 400 members of staff in London will be affected by the change but the number of redundancies is still being discussed.

Enterprise Oil employs around 180 staff in Aberdeen and 800 worldwide.

The decision comes towards the end of a year-long review of the company's operations.

Transfers for staff who wish to move to Aberdeen are expected to take place within the next month or so.

The company has set up a consultative committee to talk to workers about the move.

Streamlining exercise

The review may also have implications for Enterprise Oil operations in the US, Italy and Norway.

A company spokesman said: "What we are doing is refocusing our operations.

"This is part of an ongoing process, which has seen Enterprise honing targets, lowering exploration spend and looking at costs as a response to the low oil price environment. The review is just another part of the process."

Oil price crisis

Enterprise operates two fields in the North Sea, Nelson and Pierce.

Pierce, which is currently in the development phase, will come on stream "soon" despite low oil prices.

Oil prices are currently hovering at around 12-year lows of $10 a barrel, which coupled with a falling off in demand from Asian economies, is causing a crisis in the oil industry.

Last month, rival Lasmo announced swingeing job cuts - including the loss of around 60% of its staff at its London headquarters - because of the continued low oil prices.

Beleaguered oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has also confirmed plans to scale back its operations in a move which could lead to thousands of job losses.

Relevant Stories

Jobs threatened as Shell slashes costs (14 Dec 98 | The Company File)
The 'easy petrodollar' days are over (09 Dec 98 | The Economy)
Total merges with Petrofina (01 Dec 98 | The Company File)
Opec fails to agree new oil cuts (26 Nov 98 | The Economy)
OPEC meeting faces oil price crisis (24 Nov 98 | The Economy)
4,000 jobs to go at Shell and Texaco (13 Nov 98 | The Company File)

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