The UK’s oil and gas sector could create as many as 34,000 new jobs over the next two years, a study by Lloyds Banking Group has claimed.
Research for the lender’s commercial arm showed 77% of companies surveyed were planning for growth this year and next, with 33% citing a shortage of skills as the biggest challenge they expect to face.
If the results of the survey of the expectations of 100 UK oil and gas companies were to be replicated across a sector which boasts almost 1,700 firms, thousands of training and apprentice posts could be created.
Equipment suppliers are the most ambitious, with 80% expecting growth. The survey showed that the Scottish sector, centred on Aberdeen, has higher expectations than the rest of the UK thanks to the impact of the North East cluster.
Many companies said they want to move into new markets or diversify into unconventional oil and gas, while two-thirds said they expect to expand overseas in the coming year.
The majority of growth-orientated firms expect organic growth to account for the increase in their business rather than merger and acquisition.
Explorers and producers said they would be more active in foreign markets, with new and expanding provinces in the Far East, East Africa and West Africa exciting more interest than last year.
Supply chain companies are also more expansionist, with 72% expecting overseas growth, and more orientated to traditional markets such as the Middle East and Africa than explorers and producers.
Stuart White, area director of Lloyds’ commercial banking in the north of Scotland, said: “This is our second oil and gas report and the results show that the optimism expressed in that report has translated into reality in the intervening period.”
He added: “The 100 companies we surveyed have committed to creating 5,000 jobs, which if replicated across the industry would see tens of thousands of jobs created over the next two years.
“The development of new oil and gas fields normally grabs the headlines for sheer size of investment and job creation, but this survey has found that some equipment and service suppliers may create an even bigger numbers of jobs, albeit in a series of growth steps rather than the one big project.”
The news comes a week after Oil & Gas UK announced that investment is expected to rise to £13 billion this year, in an industry which employs 440,000 people in the UK.
Scottish Enterprise director of oil and gas David Rennie said: “We know there are still challenges in addressing the current skills shortage, and this was identified as a key area for action. We’re currently working closely with our private and public-sector partners look at ways to address this issue, ensuring that the industry can attract the right talent and ensure its long-term success.”