Aberdeen job fears as oil engineering group employing 140 workers battles market decline

FTSE 250 firm Hunting said it had begun a consultation process with affected workers as it looks to transfer its well intervention manufacturing activities into the group’s Dubai base, which remains on track for full commissioning in the second quarter of this year.

The company, which employs some 330 people in total across the affected Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations, is also proposing to close a site in the Netherlands, with any future orders in relation to geothermal activity being fulfilled by the UK operating sites.

The shake-up will result in a reduction in the overall headcount of the EMEA operation, including a proposed rationalisation of support functions in the UK, where Hunting runs two sites close to Aberdeen, together employing 143 people out of a total UK headcount of 179.

Regional managing director Graham Goodall would not be drawn on the potential jobs impact at the Scottish operations but stressed that the company was “not exiting the North Sea”. The plans to shut the Netherlands site and a consolidation of OCTG (oil country tubular goods) threading and accessories manufacturing activity into the Fordoun operation in Aberdeenshire is a “positive” for the latter site, Goodall noted.

“We have been reviewing our position in the UK for quite some time,” he said. “The UK government’s stance on energy policy has an impact on our overall business. We’ve seen over a number of years a decline in spend from our customer base. It’s not just the UK, we are looking across the European sector.

“Overall, if you look at the headcount reductions from the consolidation and transfer of our well intervention manufacturing activities that are going to the Middle East, as a percentage it’s quite a small amount. We are not exiting the UK. We are retaining both facilities in Scotland.”

Once complete, the restructuring of the EMEA operations is expected to realise annualised cost savings of some $10 million (£7.7m) per annum, with the aim of restoring the EMEA operating segment to profitability by the first quarter of 2026.

Workforce consultations have now commenced in the relevant jurisdictions. Goodall said Hunting, which employs more than 2,300 people globally group-wide, was in an initial 30-day consultation process but it could take longer before exact job numbers were determined.

Further details are likely to be provided as part of the company’s first-quarter trading update, which is due to be issued on April 16.

London-headquartered Hunting can trace its roots back to 1874. As well as the UK, the company has operations in China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Its review of the EMEA operating segment included a detailed analysis of the medium-term outlook for the European region, in terms of future oil and gas drilling activity, and an assessment of the longer-range operating footprint requirements of the wider group.

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