The return of cautious optimism in the North Sea
The UK’s North Sea hub, braced for production declines, has received a boost from new investments and revived interest from the supermajors
There's more optimism around Aberdeen, the main centre for the North Sea oil and gas industry, than there has been for some years. Offshore activity is picking up, albeit from a low base, and the city is slowly filling up again. Oil company executives can't always get rooms in their favourite hotels these days, and taxi drivers—those trusty barometers of economic health—say they're the busiest they've been since the oil-price crash sent industry spending into a nosedive. There's still plenty of vacant work space around, but the signs are positive. Perhaps the clearest evidence of a turnaround in the fortunes of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) was the greater-than-expected interest shown in t
Also in this section
14 April 2026
The GECF has warned it may revise its projections for demand this year downwards in light of conflict in the Middle East, although it maintains its forecasts for 2027 and onwards
13 April 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis highlights sharp shift from crude oversupply to market deficit, with Iraq and Kuwait badly affected and key producers Saudi Arabia and the UAE also seeing output sharply lower
13 April 2026
Turkmenistan is moving ahead with a modest expansion of the giant Galkynysh field to sustain gas deliveries abroad, but persistent delays to other key pipeline projects and geopolitical risks continue to constrain its export ambitions
13 April 2026
Expensive electricity has forced out swathes of energy-intensive industry and now threatens the country’s ability to attract future investment in datacentres and the digital economy
