64% of respondents have indicated that the economy is set to improve

Wednesday 26 February 2014, Amsterdam

Survey results reveal that the level of optimism for next six months has increased marginally by one percentage point in Q1 2014, compared to Q4 2013. Overall, 64% of respondents have indicated that the economy will improve, while 9% have stated an opinion that the economy will worsen, according to Kable’s new report – Oil and Gas Business Confidence Report Q1 2014

The results resonate with the findings in Q4 2013 in which 63% of executives stated that they expect the current state of the economy to improve. The continued levels of optimism regarding improvement of economic outlook can be contributed to improving economic conditions, availability of investment, demand from developing countries and expansion strategies implemented by oil and gas companies.

Some Key Insights Include:
•    Oil and gas industry executives plan to increase investments in the areas of IT and research and analysis in the next six months.

•    Oil and gas executives from North America anticipate the highest increase in both staff head count and sales, at an average of 4% and 6.2% respectively, over the next six months. Executives from the Rest of the World expect the smallest increase in staff head count and sales at an average of 2.6% and 3.5% respectively, in the next six months.

•    Companies plan to spend more on services, and equipment and machinery in 2014, with the highest spend of the services budget going towards construction and engineering services, and consulting and training services.

•    Executives operating across the globe consider ‘increasing sales’, ‘improving operational efficiency’, ‘protecting and growing market share’, and ‘customer retention’ as key priorities over the next six months.