Optimism Amid Caution: Major Players Expand Offshore Acreage Despite Budget Constraint

Despite constrained budgets, there’s optimism surrounding frontier drilling, particularly in deepwater projects across the Atlantic Margin, Eastern Mediterranean, and Asia. Last year, major players secured a substantial increase in awarded acreage, totalling 112,000 square kilometres—an increase of 20% compared to the previous year. Notably, all awarded blocks were offshore, with 39% in the shelf segment, 28% in deepwater, and the remaining 33% in ultra-deepwater.
However, upstream players such as ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, TotalEnergies and Eni are expected to continue to exercise caution in exploration spending this year. According to a report by Rystad Energy, these major producers will have spent on average a combined $7 billion each year between 2020 and 2024, a sizeable drop from their previous four-year period during which average total spending was $10 billion
Kapoor, P. (March 2024). Oil companies plunge into deep-water projects despite tight budgets. Retrieved from https://www.oilandgasmiddleeast.com/news