About 300 jobs are expected to be cut at oil company Wood Group.

The Aberdeen-based firm is opening a period of consultation with 1,000 onshore staff due to "cost and efficiency challenges" in the industry.

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Wood Group said it expects about 300 redundancies in order to "remain competitive both now and in the future".

David Kemp, Wood Group's chief financial officer, said: "We are firmly committed to supporting the long-term sustainability of the industry in the North Sea and maximising economic recovery by ensuring we are fit for purpose, flexible and strongly-equipped to deliver efficiently and effectively.

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"To achieve this, and in response to a natural reduction in workscopes, we are streamlining our structure and our processes to reduce costs, and an inevitable outcome of this is an impact on our employee numbers.

"As ever, our commitment is to act compassionately and sensitively, supporting our people through this consultation process and we will make every effort to minimise the impact on them."

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Wood Group employs about 6,200 people onshore in the UK.

In February, the company revealed it cut 8,000 jobs last year as it battled to slash costs amid the global slump in commodity prices.

The 20% workforce decline included 2,000 jobs in the UK as well as losses in the US and the Middle East as it made savings of more than £100 million.

Last week, the company announced it had won a new £342.5 million contract to provide services to BP in Azerbaijan.