WHILE crude price volatility has caused jitters in the North Sea in recent months, noises made by oil giants this week will boost hopes the recovery in the area will be maintained.

The implications of the fall in the price of Brent crude from a four year high of $85 per barrel in October to around $53/bbl In January amid booming US output looked alarming.

Read more: Oil price warning bodes ill for North Sea

After taking a hammering amid the crude price plunge from 2014 to 2016, the last thing the North Sea oil and gas industry needed was for the recovery in prices that followed exporters’ moves to curb output to unwind.

Shares in Aberdeen-based sector giant Wood plunged in December after it said the crude price fall from October could impact confidence and the pace of awards.

Read more: Shell boss hails 'huge step up' in performance in North Sea

IBut with the oil price recovering to around $71/bbl recently, following disruption to supplies from Iran and Venezuela, Shell and BP appear to be focused on growth in the North Sea.

After Shell retrenched in the North Sea amid the downturn, finance chief Jessica Uhl made clear yesterday bosses are very pleased with the performance of its slimmed-down portfolio. She said the company has a range of North Sea projects in the hopper and expects to grow production in the UK.

Read more: BP highlights potential of North Sea field after fall in profits

On Tuesday BP noted that it expects to achieve good margins on output from the Seagull project in the North Sea which it approved in March with Neptune Energy after green lighting other developments last year.