More than half of delegates to Offshore Europe expect increased investment in the UK North Sea, according to a survey.
Of those asked by the Economist Intelligence Unit, 57% said they believed that activity would increase.
However, there were 22% who said they thought activity would decrease in the region. The rest had no opinion.
Pekka Paasivaara, an executive board member at GL Noble Denton, which commissioned the report, said: “The result of this poll clearly shows that recent concerns over hefty taxes, ageing assets and increased operating costs have not dampened optimism for further investment in North Sea oil and gas operations next year.