THE Scottish and UK governments have come under fresh pressure to support North Sea firms after oil prices slumped to their lowest level for nearly six years.
Jim Murphy, the Scottish Labour leader, called on ministers in Edinburgh and London to attend a summit - first proposed last year by Aberdeen City Council - to address growing problems in the North Sea oil industry.
He also urged the Scottish Government to create a "resilience fund" to help avert large scale lay-offs in key industries.
The call followed a plea at the weekend by Malcolm Webb, the head of industry body Oil and Gas UK, for the UK Government to cut taxes and accelerate regulatory reforms to safeguard investment in the North Sea.
Oil prices tumbled close to $51 per barrel yesterday.
Analysts predicted the price was set to dip below $50, a level not seen since May 2009.
The slump spelled good new for motorists but hit the share price of major oil companies, including BP and Shell.
Prices have plummeted from $115 per barrel in June as a glut in supply has coincided with shrinking demand amid fears for world economic growth.
It has sparked warnings of tens of thousands of North Sea job losses and the cancellation of new projects.
Speaking after a round of visits to industry representatives, trade union leaders and councillors in Aberdeen, Mr Murphy said he was willing to lead a delegation from the city to see ministers if they refused to attend the proposed summit.
He also called on the Scottish Government to publish an updated edition of its Oil and
Gas Bulletin, including an analysis of the tax cuts required to safeguard jobs in the industry.
He urged First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to use business rates to help small firms involved in the oil industry.
The MP said his proposed resilience fund should be paid for from £100million of unallocated funding announced during the Autumn Statement last month.
He said: "I was astonished to learn that the Scottish Cabinet did not discuss the Oil crisis this morning.
"The Scottish Government cannot sit on their hands and call it someone else's problem.
"When the livelihoods of thousands of Scots are on the line, they need to be taking action."
He added: "This crisis should be the Scottish Government's number one priority.
"These are exceptional circumstances; the future of families across the North East needs exceptional thinking."
The Scottish cabinet did not discuss the falling price of oil during its first meeting of the year yesterday, a government spokesman confirmed.
Deputy First Minister and Finance minister John Swinney is due to visit a primary school in Inverness today to promote free school meals.
The falling oil price was discussed at yesterday's UK cabinet meeting, when George Osborne updated senior ministers on the state of the economy.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the slump in oil prices was "significant".
He said the slide was "positive news"
for motorists, as forecourt petrol prices fell, but added: "There are also of course - and this is something the Chancellor, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Energy Secretary and others have been looking at - potential sectoral impacts.
"We continue to work closely with the North Sea sector and the like."
The SNP used Scottish Government forecasts of $110 dollars a barrel as the basis of their independence blueprint.
At the weekend, Mr Swinney insisted the price would return to that level.
A spokesperson for energy minister Fergus Ewing said: "Current prices are nothing new.
"n 1999 they were close to $10 a barrel, and Norway had only just started to invest in its oil fund, which is now worth more than £500billion and is the biggest sovereign wealth fund in the world, growing by an average of $165 million every day over the last 13 years.
"Oil is a bonus, not the basis of Scotland's economy, and will be a fantastic asset for decades to come - many independent international forecasts expect the price to rise again this year, with OPEC predicting a price of $110 per barrel for the rest of the decade and around $100 in real terms in the long-run."
He said the Scottish Government invested £15million in the oil and gas sector via Scottish Enterprise last year and a further £10million in research centre in Aberdeen.
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