PREMIUM Oil and gas firms have slashed investment in the North Sea in recent months Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire AS the crude price traded at nine-month highs last month Scottish energy giant SSE poured a bucket of ice-cold water on hopes of recovery in the North Sea. The 40 per cent rise in the crude price since early November, to around $53 per barrel, has been fuelled by hopes that effective coronavirus vaccines will be made available around the world by spring. While the surge in infection rates caused by the new variant has concerned traders, moves by Saudi Arabia to ease fears that Opec + members would ease production curbs too quickly have helped calm nerves.