An industry trade group sees confidence returning to the British North Sea, but lingering challenges remain for oil and natural gas. File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI. March 7 (UPI) — Though the region is showing signs of recovery, a British oil and gas trade group said new investments in offshore activity are slow to emerge. A report from the trade group Oil & Gas U.K. finds total British offshore production up 5 percent from 2015 to 1.73 billion barrels of oil equivalent. That trend should continue short-term with output reaching 1.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent by 2018. That follows a 15-year period of steady declines from British waters. Deirdre Michie, the chief executive for the trade group, said confidence is returning to the North Sea. Cash flow generated by exploration and production companies is expected to move into positive territory for the first time since 2013. “However, this […]