THE UK has lost more than £10bn and 10,000 jobs to Middle-East and Asian competitors in just three years, offshore energy bosses have claimed.

The warning comes after North-East oil and gas firm, OGN Group, completed work on the UK's first custom-made North Sea oil platform for 25 years, which will produce about 25,000 barrels of oil every day.

Last night, OGN, based in Wallsend, North Tyneside, towed the deck on the £400m platform down the River Tyne to the North Sea Forties Field, off the Aberdeen coast, for US oil and gas company, Apache Corporation.

Bosses at the firm, formerly SLP Production, were awarded the Apache contract in 2010, and say the deal proves the UK can compete with foreign rivals.

However, they say the success comes at a price, with oil and gas industry experts claiming the UK'S offshore energy sector is losing business to South Korea and the Middle-East, with contracts worth more than £10bn in UK Continental Shelf waters, including about 10,000 jobs, being given to firms outside the country.

Work on the platform, which is one of the biggest ever built on the River Tyne, created 2,000 North-East jobs for welders, platers, riggers and electricians at OGN's 75-acre facility, with an extra 5,000 posts in the region's supply chain, and production is expected to start production later this year.

Dennis Clark, OGN chairman, said the firm had proved the UK, and the North-East in particular, had the skills to carry out such projects, after it acquired the mothballed Hadrian Yard construction site in 2009, and invested £25m into the region.

He said: “This is a great testimony to the manufacturing capabilities and skills of the oil and gas supply chain in the North-East and to Apache's commitment to building locally within the UK.

“It also shows that the North-East region’s track record of engineering and fabrication could have a bright future at the heart of a thriving offshore energy sector, and I congratulate our workforce on a truly excellent job which speaks volumes for their talents and commitment.”

Jim House, Apache's North Sea managing director, said it was delighted to be increasing production at Forties Field, which was due to be decommissioned this year, but has now been extended for at least 20 years.

He said: “We are looking forward to taking delivery of one of the largest oil platforms ever built on the Tyne.

“We have worked successfully in partnership with OGN over the past three years and our confidence in them and with the UK supply chain has established an excellent example.

“The Forties Alpha Platform represents a major milestone for Apache’s significant investment programme and I'm especially proud we are installing it at the same time production when Forties was originally scheduled to scale down.

“Production in the field is currently running at an average of 57,000 barrels of oil per day of oil, which is five times higher than the outlook of about 10 years ago.”

Energy Minister, and former Darlington MP, Michael Fallon, said the project reflected a renaissance in the North-East offshore energy industry.

He said: “This proves without doubt that UK fabricators can compete with the world’s best.

“Apache should be praised for buying British, providing North-East jobs and helping to re-energise an industry with a great tradition in the region, and this is an important illustration to other North Sea producers that the country UK offers excellent quality and value.

“This platform is at the leading edge of the North Sea oil and gas industry and the Government is working hard with producers and British business to ensure the UK fully benefits from this resurgence in investment.”