Offshore staff
LONDON – GlobalData predicts that total oil and gas capex will increase by 13.4% this year to more than $1 trillion, compared with $916 billion in 2011.
Oil companies are intensifying upstream operations across diverse locations. Investor confidence in new upstream projects is being driven by the increasing number of oil and gas discoveries (242 in 2011), consistently high oil prices, and new technologies opening access to deep offshore reserves that were previously technically and financially unviable.
North America should account for the highest proportion of capex globally (24.5%), at $254.3 billion. Its capex growth rate is also highest, at a predicted 15.7%.
Asia/Pacific is close behind, with GlobalData forecasting capex in this region of $253.1 billion, followed by $229.6 billion in the Middle East and Africa.
National oil companies (NOCs) should contribute around half the capex total, notably Petronas, Petrobras, and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., all of which plan to substantially increase their E&P spending this year.
Petrobras ranks first among NOCs for capex during 2012-2016, with ExxonMobil expected to be the number one IOC. Together, they plan oil and gas capex of $409 billion through 2016, GlobalData claims.
Offshore oil and gas production across West Africa increased from 843.7 MMboe in 2001 to 1.6 Bboe in 2011, the analysts said in another report. Production in this region is set to increase further to 2.2 Bboe in 2020, they claim.
8/24/2012
