It is a handsome granite townhouse that sits just off the main road through Aberdeen’s wealthiest suburbs and is surrounded by buildings of similar standing.

But last month, the Woodbank Hotel in Pitfodels was sold to the owners of the neighbouring 5-star Marcliffe and it will now be converted to expand existing spa facilities.

As deals go, it was fairly uncontroversial and did no raise much publicity, but it, perhaps, further illustrates Aberdeen’s steep economic decline.

For the Woodbank is currently owned by Shell and has 21 bedrooms, seven meeting rooms, private dining rooms and a sports centre.

Only Shell staff and executives could use the facility and was widely used as thousands of workers started moving to the North-east during the height of the oil boom.

But now it is surplus to requirements by the oil giant which like other industry majors are turning their back on the North Sea due to dwindling reserves and punitive taxes that make it not worth their while drilling for it.

Last year, US oil giant Chevron announced it will close its office in Aberdeen, as it leaves the North Sea after more than 50 years.

The multinational energy corporation is active in 180 countries, and boasted revenues of $200billion (£145bn) in 2023.

Last year, Chevron announced that it would sell its remaining North Sea assets amid declining production.

Chevron was one of the first companies to invest in North Sea oil, with drilling beginning in the early 1970s.

How bad things have got was recently highlighted with figures showing that more than 13,000 Scots oil and gas jobs have been lost in the space of just one year, while more than 40% of the UK’s energy needs is being........

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