NORTH Sea oil and gas sector watchers will welcome the change in the tone of Wood boss Robin Watson’s comments on the industry yesterday.

While some expressed hopes last year that a recovery may have started in the area Mr Watson remained resolutely downbeat saying he could see no sign of an upturn.

For him to say yesterday that Aberdeen-based Wood expects there to be a recovery this year was notable, even if he said the rally would likely be modest.

As the boss of one of the leading players in the oil services market in the area, Mr Watson is better placed than most to assess the outlook for investment.

His change of mood suggests the partial recovery in the crude price since late 2016 combined with efforts to increase efficiency in the North Sea have made the difference required to get giants to look afresh at the area.

Wood has built relationships with independents such as Chrysaor who bought assets from majors last year in the expectation they would be able to generate good returns on their investments. Mr Watson appears confident the buyers will get to work.

With Wood still facing pressure on margins in the North Sea, there is no sign of a return to the boom conditions seen amid the years of high oil prices that ended in 2014.

Wood cut its reliance on the area with the £2.2bn purchase of engineering giant Amec Foster Wheeler last year.

But Mr Watson sees enough potential in the North Sea and the operations Wood developed working in the area to insist it will remain based in Aberdeen.