BP sheds 300 jobs as industry struggles with $49 oil price

By Tanya Jefferies for Thisismoney.co.uk

Published: 04:59 EST, 15 January 2015 | Updated: 08:04 EST, 15 January 2015

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The oil price crash has sparked fears of widespread job cuts as industry giant BP shed 200 staff and 100 contractors.

Joining Shell, Tullow and Premier in announcing a shake-up of operations, BP said the job cuts apply to onshore roles not offshore operations.

Politicians in Westminster and Scotland are being pressed to take urgent action as BP announced the job reductions at a briefing today at the firm's North Sea headquarters in Aberdeen.

Oil price crash: Dramatic fall has caused upheaval on world markets but lower petrol costs are expected to drive a consumer boom that ultimately helps the economy

Other firms under the cosh include Tullow Oil, which today wrote off 2billion of exploration work and cut investment amid expectations of job cuts, Royal Dutch Shell which has axed a 4.3billion project in Qatar, and Premier Oil which slashed spending by 40 per cent and wrote off nearly 200million yesterday.

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BP sheds 300 jobs as industry struggles with $49 oil price