OIL and gas firms could shelve projects worth around a trillion pounds following the plunge in the crude price, experts have warned. The Wood Mackenzie consultancy said $1.5 trillion (£0.97tn) of projects in planning around the world such as new field developments would be uneconomic at a Brent crude price of $50 per barrel (/bbl). “This spend is very much at risk," said James Webb, upstream research manager for Edinburgh-based Wood Mackenzie. Brent crude traded at around $48.20/bbl yesterday, compared with $115/bbl in June last year. The analysis will heighten alarm about the outlook for the UK North Sea, where firms have slashed spending and cut 5,500 jobs in response to the oil price fall. Wood Mack did not say how many North Sea projects were at risk. However, the consultancy warned recently that nearly half the oil and gas fields in the North Sea could be shut down over the next five years even if the oil price rises to $85/bbl. Wood Mack noted yesterday that cuts in spending on the scale it thinks possible would be seriously damaging to the oil services industry. While the service sector has the capacity to handle 40-50 new projects globally a year, Wood Mack expects just six new projects to go ahead in 2015 and around ten in 2016. Around 46 projects have already been deferred.