Scotland’s future is important to North Sea oil and gas firms and their supply chain, but the industry faces bigger challenges.
That is the view of Colin Pearson, tax partner in the Aberdeen office of accountancy firm EY.
Mr Pearson said operators and service companies had to work with all kinds of governments around the world, and were masters of dealing with changes they “took in their stride”.
He added: “The Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce survey chimes with our own findings on the oil and gas industry view of the referendum, namely that it is one issue to consider among many.
“It is interesting to see the line that neither side is providing much clarity on key issues being repeated but the supply of skilled employees would rank higher in oil and gas executives’ compelling concerns
“Although September 18 is a pronounced landmark is Scotland’s constitutional history, the industry has other transformational programmes to consider.
“The implementation of the Wood Review and the summer’s promised assessment of the North Sea fiscal regime could potentially unlock substantial investment.
“Together, they could prove to have a bigger impact on the basin than the referendum.”