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Oil Giant Shell Cuts Further 475 UK Jobs

Royal Dutch Shell (Xetra: A0ET6Q - news) is cutting an additional 2,200 jobs including 475 in its North Sea business as the industry continues to struggle.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) takes the total number of jobs cut in the region by Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) since the start of 2014 to nearly 1,000.

Paul Goodfellow, Shell's vice president for the UK and Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) , said market conditions "remain challenging" and that it was cutting costs and improving efficiency to face up to "lower for longer" oil prices.

The group has been slashing jobs in response to the sharp downturn price, and also as a result of its £36bn merger with oil and has exploration group BG.

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Shell had already announced a reduction of 10,300 staff and direct contractor roles since the start of 2015 and that number has now risen to 12,500.

The latest cuts to Shell's UK and Ireland upstream division are set to be implemented by the end of this year.

:: Oil Plunge Means Tough Times For North Sea

Mr Goodfellow addressed staff in Aberdeen ahead of the announcement.

He said in a statement: "Despite the improvements that we have made to our business, current market conditions remain challenging.

"Our integration with BG provides an opportunity to accelerate our performance in this 'lower for longer' environment.

"We need to reduce our cost base, improve production efficiency and have an organisation that best fits our combined portfolio and business plans."

Mr Goodfellow added that Shell would remain a key employer in the northeast of Scotland with around 1,700 employees.

Shell cut 250 jobs in the North Sea in 2014 and a further 250 last year.

At the end of last year, Shell employed 90,000 people globally while BG employed around 4,600.

Earlier this month, Shell reported an 89% fall in first quarter profits to £334m. Annual profits for 2015 were down 80% to £2.6bn.