Oil and Gas UK, the trade association of UK offshore oil and gas industry, has suggested in its confidence index report that the confidence of Britain’s oil and gas industry is steadily increasing.

The report published by the association on 12 March 2013 is based on the data collected in February 2013.

Britain’s oil and gas industry has scored 60 of 100 on the confidence index point scale for the final quarter (Q4) of 2012, registering an increase of two points from the third quarter (Q3) of 2012.

The report has suggested that though the confidence of the operators has remained unchanged, but an increase in the contractors’ confidence was recorded.

In the operators’ sector, it is only the major companies that have shown increased confidence due to the availability of resources and benefits of tax changes, whereas the small operators are facing challenges due to the constrained accessibility to finance and resources.

Oil & Gas UK operations director Oonagh Werngren said the confidence within the contractor sector is mainly due to the tax changes the government introduced in 2012 to encourage more investment in the UK continental shelf.

"With operators investing around £11.4 billion in 2012, supply chain companies which perform essential functions supplying parts and specialist services and equipment to the operators are experiencing increasing demand for their services," Werngren added.

The overall confidence of the oil and gas industry has increased from 58 in Q3 to 60 in Q4 of 2012. The operators’ confidence remained unchanged at 57, whereas the major operating companies reported an increase of six points from 58 to 64.

The confidence of small operators has dipped from 57 to 55.

In the contractors sector, an increase from 58 to 61 points was registered in all the four subsectors.

The subsectors include drilling and well services that remained unchanged at 61 points, while facilities engineering, operations and maintenance rose from 59 to 61, marine and subsea increased from 54 to 61 and and support services gained from 62 to 64.