Concern has been expressed for the future of Fife’s flagship energy park following heavy job losses at its anchor tenant.
BiFab’s offshore fabrication yard at Methil is now being operated on a care and maintenance basis after the remaining jobs were transferred to the firm’s premises in Burntisland.
Several hundred contractors and staff have been paid off in the last 10 months and only 190 workers remain at the Burntisland yard.
The decline has been blamed on falling oil prices and significant contracts being awarded to overseas competitors.
The UK Government has now been urged to offer tax breaks for offshore exploration to allow Scots firms to find new sources of fuel.
BiFab is Energy Park Fife’s biggest tenant and had been seen as a draw for other businesses involved in the energy and renewables sector.
Although there are hopes of securing new contracts in the future, its current decline, coupled with the withdrawal of Samsung in July, is seen as a massive blow.
MSP David Torrance described the situation as extremely disappointing.
“With the downturn in the oil price there’s a huge lack of investment,” he said.
“Only the UK Government can change that by allowing massive tax breaks for offshore exploration to find new fuels.
“That could then allow the fabrication side to pick up.”
He added: “BiFab have some tenders out for contracts which I hope they can secure, thus securing the workforce at Burntisland and hopefully eventually expanding back to Methil.”
Burntisland workers are employed on a small contract for AMEC/BP, due for completion in May.
Bosses are hopeful of securing part of a major contract involving 84 jacket structures in the outer Moray Firth later this year.
Bi-Fab operations director Martin Adam said: “It’s not a nice position to be in but the yard has potential and we need to ensure we have capacity for fabrication when fabrication comes back into the picture.”
Councillor Tom Adams, chairman of Levenmouth area committee, said BiFab has played a key role in the development of Energy Park Fife since 2005, and in continued efforts to regenerate Methil waterfront.
He said: “Only last year, there were over 2,000 staff on site, some of the largest projects in decades were being worked on and we were dealing with parking issues because it was so busy.
“It is an industry that is cyclical in nature and we believe once uncertainty in UK energy market abates, facilities at the energy park and the experience of BiFab are some of the best around and we’ll be well placed to pick up new orders and new investment.”
Robin Presswood, head of economy, planning and employability at Fife Council, said: “We believe that in the Energy Park we have one of the best facilities in Scotland and one that can respond quickest to market interest.”