It’s not the start to the week that Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, would have been hoping for: more than 2,000 private sector jobs in Scotland at risk from the collapse of Petrofac, the London-listed oilfield services group.
Its slide into insolvency was triggered by last week’s cancellation of a major contract by its biggest customer, but the failure of a company once valued at more than £6bn has been a long time coming.
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Administrators at Teneo will now attempt to salvage what they can from Petrofac’s wreckage.
“The group’s operations will continue to trade, and options for alternative Restructuring and [sale] solutions are being actively explored with its key creditors,” Petrofac said on Monday morning.
“When appointed, administrators will work alongside Executive Management to preserve value, operational capability and ongoing delivery across the Group’s operating and trading entities.”
For thousands of employees, the future is now uncertain, although people close to the company say they are hopeful that a buyer can be found swiftly for its North Sea operations, with one suggesting that it could even happen in the coming days.
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That would be a relief to Mr Miliband, whose energy policy has come under growing scrutiny in recent months amid dire warnings about the future of Britain’s offshore oil industry.
