By Karolin Schaps
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Britain's North Sea oil and gassector has shed more than 5,000 jobs since late last year, thecountry's new Oil and Gas Authority said on Monday, putting anofficial figure on job losses resulting from a year-long declinein oil prices.
North Sea oil companies have been particularly hard hit bythe near 55 percent decline in Brent crude prices since June2014, as they were already facing some of the industry's highestoperating costs in one of the world's most mature basins.
"Regrettably, this has led to the loss of around 5,500 jobssince late 2014," Andy Samuel, chief executive of the OGA, saidin a report summarising the newly-created body's first months.
North Sea operators, including Shell, BP,Chevron and ConocoPhillips, have all announcedstaff cuts, a trend that has raised concerns about an emergingskills gap.
The OGA, established as an executive body five months ago,is tasked with helping North Sea operators squeeze as much oiland gas out of the basin as possible.
The oil and gas sector employs around 375,000 people andremains an important source of tax revenue, despite thosereceipts dropping.
UK oil production has fallen to the lowest since outputstarted in the mid-1970s as old fields run out of resources.
Two operators recently announced their intention to shutfields early, making the OGA's mission more pressing than ever.
The body said it had helped mediate commercial discussionsbetween companies involved in the running of Theddlethorpe gasterminal, and the Sullom Voe terminal on the Shetland Islands,key facilities in the North Sea but which are expensive tooperate.
"We should be in no doubt about the scale of the challengeahead," Samuel said. (Editing by David Holmes)
