Around 100 jobs are at risk at Aberdeen energy firm Spirit Energy under plans for a major restructure at the North Sea operator.
The gas producer employs about 150 people at its base in the city's Justice Mill Lane - but is proposing to reshape its business, and a consultation with staff is now under way.
Any redundancies - and the closure of the current office - are not expected to happen until the end of the year.
A Spirit Energy spokesman said: “We have shared with colleagues a proposal to restructure our UK organisation, separating into two independent organisations: a Barrow-based Operating Company, managing the Morecambe Hub fields in the East Irish Sea, and an Aberdeen-based Development Company, taking forward our Morecambe Net Zero (MNZ) carbon storage business to a Final Investment Decision.
“With the expected completion of the transaction with Serica Energy for our Greater Markham Area (GMA) portfolio in the second half of this year, our structure must change to ensure our resources and personnel are where they are needed to support our activities.
"We are committed to supporting all our colleagues throughout the consultation process.”
Under the proposals, around 50 staff will be employed by the company in Aberdeen, based at a smaller office in the city.
The Aberdeen company will be involved in supporting a Morecambe carbon storage project. The other will be Barrow-based, managing fields in the East Irish Sea.
The news - while unrelated to the current policy issues facing the North Sea - is the latest jobs blow to hit Aberdeen, and yesterday the UK Government came under further pressure to deliver policy reform to support the oil and gas sector.
CBI director-general Rain Newton-Smith has called on the UK Government to approve the Jackdaw and Rosebank North Sea developments and reform the Energy Profits Levy, arguing the measures are needed to unlock investment and protect jobs.
Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, she said: “[The energy profits levy] is reducing investment at the moment in the North Sea. That needs to be reformed. There are proposals on the table that the government are considering – they should implement them now and be clear that they’re going to encourage that investment and existing extraction.”
She also urged Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to back the delayed projects, saying: “Those should be given approval which will help our existing oil and gas extraction. It won’t help the overall cost of energy… but it will impact jobs, and investment, and tax revenue from the North Sea, which are a critical part of the skills we need for that energy transition.”
Both projects were paused last year after a High Court ruling found their licences had been granted unlawfully. Ministers have yet to confirm whether either development will now proceed.