{"id":11757,"date":"2017-03-09T16:05:23","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T16:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=11757"},"modified":"2017-03-09T16:06:38","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T16:06:38","slug":"stop-decline-spiral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=11757","title":{"rendered":"Stop the decline spiral"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the wake of the sharpest and most sustained drop in the price of oil in decades, the UK oil industry is staring into an abyss as more than a hundred thousand jobs have gone in the last two years alone and investment grinds to a virtual halt.<\/p>\n

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Although oil prices have experienced a modest bounce in recent months, experts agree that lower prices for longer is the new normal.<\/p>\n

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The state of the beleaguered industry prompted Chancellor Phillip Hammond to announce in the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s budget yesterday (March 8) measures seeking to help<\/a>. He outlined a panel that would oversee certain North Sea tax rules that could help jumpstart more investment.<\/p>\n

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The timing couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be more appropriate \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just days before Hammond\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s budget, Unite launched the publication of its new strategy for the oil industry, Wells to Wheels<\/em>, developed with the help of Unite reps along with specialist researchers and assistance from industry bodies such as Oil and Gas UK.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve put out Wells to Wheels<\/em> because we realised that there was nothing like it out there right now, just when the industry needs a proper strategy more than anything,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Unite national officer Tony Devlin explained.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have long been calling for an oil and gas summit which would bring together trade unions, industry bodies, all governments including Westminster and the devolved governments \u00e2\u20ac\u201c basically all the major stakeholders \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to devise an action plan to ensure the industry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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Union voices not included <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hammond\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans for an oil \u00e2\u20ac\u0098panel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is in line with what Unite has lobbied for, Devlin noted, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s woefully inadequate because it only looks at part of the picture and hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expressly included the voice of trade unions.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA \u00e2\u20ac\u0098panel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth its salt must go beyond just looking at tax rules or the offshore part of the industry,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need a wholesale industry review from top to bottom which examines exploration and production as well as refining, all the way downstream to fuel deliveries \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from, as we say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098wells to wheels\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. We need a plan that looks at the future of skills, at job security and diversification \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with trade unions having a seat at the table.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan to secure the future of the industry also includes calling for a favourable future trading arrangements post-Brexit to ensure a stable environment for investment; improving the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s energy security; developing a coherent future jobs strategy to meet the challenges of decarbonisation; reforming fuel duty and establishing a stronger role for trade unions in health and safety bodies, among other measures.<\/p>\n

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Beyond the sustained drop in the price of oil, the industry must come to terms with the reality that oil in the North Sea will eventually run out \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at current extraction rates, this could take 20 to 40 years. The urgent need to decarbonise the economy to avoid irreversible climate change also hangs heavy over an industry that sustains hundreds of thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

National conversation <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite hopes that Wells to Wheels<\/em> becomes the centrepiece of a national conversation that spurs governments, companies, industry bodies and trade unions to coordinated and decisive action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe oil industry is simply too important to allow it to spiral into decline,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Devlin said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt not only fuels our vehicles and powers our homes but oil is used in a vast array of household products, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in our roads, too,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Devlin noted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou could say that there isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t anything as we go about our daily lives that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t somehow touched by oil. When the price of a barrel of oil drops, it affects the entire global economy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how important this industry is.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Indeed, the UK oil and gas industry alone provides over 70 per cent of our primary energy needs, accounts for over 90 per cent of transport fuels and employs nearly half a million people directly and indirectly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUK energy security is also a key issue,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Devlin highlighted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bGeopolitically, as the world becomes less stable, the need for the UK to be energy self-sufficient becomes ever more urgent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, Devlin said Unite remains hopeful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWith the right set of policies, and with genuine will and determination the UK oil sector can provide sustainable and secure jobs for our members long into the future.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the wake of the sharpest and most sustained drop in the price of oil in decades, the UK oil industry is staring into an abyss as more than a hundred thousand jobs have gone in the last two years alone and investment grinds to a virtual halt.   Although oil prices have experienced a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[551,213],"wps_subtitle":"With the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s oil industry at risk, Unite fights back ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11757"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11759,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11757\/revisions\/11759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}