Texas-based engineering firm OneSubsea (cameron.slb.com/onesubsea) , which provides solutions for the sub-sea oil and gas market, has said that it may have to reduce its operations, meaning that “600 jobs in Leeds are on the line”. The company employs 929 people there, and they have been told that operations may cease by 2017. The company, a subsidiary of oil-field services giant Schlumberger, won a $300 million contract with Woodside Energy earlier this year.

In a statement, it said: “The oil and gas industry is going through the most severe downturn of the past 30 years,
with operators significantly reducing their investment. This scenario has dramatically impacted our order intake, leaving many of our plants under-utilised. We are considering a proposal to cease manufacturing, assembly and test activities in Leeds during 2017. We understand the impact of this announcement on our employees and the local community.”

Chris Daly, regional officer for the Unite union, which has 300 members at the site, said: “This is appalling news
that came out of the blue. We knew that there was a downturn in the oil price, but we had no inkling about the scale
of such job losses.”