The politician who led a committee looking at the oil and gas industry said there will be a “revival” in the North Sea.
MSP Murdo Fraser spoke after the findings of a report by the Scottish Government’s energy committee were made public.
Evidence was given last year by industry leaders, unions and politicians on the current state of the industry in the North Sea.
Fraser said while the low oil price had heavily dominated news headlines the committee members envisaged a “sustainable future” for oil and gas in Scotland for “decades” to come.
He said: “The oil price is cyclical, we have seen some recent historic oil price lows but sooner or later we would expect the price to come back. What’s important is we see the current
situation in the sector is not about decline. There will be a revival in the North Sea.
“I think we did hear calls for government action the committee members recognise there’s a limit to what government can do in the face of what are market pressures driving the oil price down.
“One of the interesting things that came out of the evidence was that the sector is looking for fiscal stability and there are calls for tax changes but that was not high on the list of those who gave evidence.
“There’s a lot of support for the OGA and there was still a sense that there’s greater scope for greater efficiency too.
“So we heard for example a call for the adoption of common standard across operators. There was a call for delivering more efficiency and cost savings and that’s something Oil & Gas UK and its members were keen to work towards.”
A number of recommendations have since been put forward by the politicians in support of the industry.
Concern had also been raised about the number of job losses in the sector.
The report estimated that since the global drop in oil price, 6,000 jobs have been lost offshore.
Meanwhile an additional 30,000 jobs have been affected in support industries and 30,000 in the service sector.
Anecdotal evidence was also presented on the impact the downturn was having on Aberdeen.
The report said the city had seen a drop in hotel occupancy and room rates, pub and restaurant turnover.
It added that house sales and new car orders have all also been negatively impacted by the downturn.
James Bream from Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said within the next year there would be a “slowing of the percentage rate fall in redundancies” compared with the previous year, but added “we are not at the bottom in terms of the reduction in employment” currently being experienced by the industry.
The committee has also called for a report to be completed by the OGA (Oil and Gas Authority) which will look at decommissioning in the North Sea.
Fraser said the committee was not looking to encourage early decommissioning in the North Sea.
He said: “There are calls in some quarters for us to move towards it more quickly but we want to look at it again and have asked the OGA to come up with a long-term outlook on decommissioning.”
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