Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway – Global discoveries to date this year have delivered more than 8.8 Bboe, and the final figure could be around 9.4 Bboe, according to consultant Rystad Energy.
Palzor Shenga, senior analyst on the company’s Upstream team, expected the positive trend to continue in 2019, with various high-impact wells in prospect.
Offshore discoveries account for around 82% of total volumes proven so far, with three countries delivering the biggest finds.
ExxonMobil achieved its 10th discovery on the deepwater Stabroek block off Guyana, where estimated resources now exceed 5 Bboe.
Off northern Russia,Novatek’s first exploratory well in the North Obskoye block in the shallow waters of Ob Bay was the largest new field discovery of the year, with around 960 MMboe recoverable.
Chevron and Shell led drilling in the US Gulf of Mexico, proving around 728 MMboe in total with wells on theBallymore and Dover prospects.
Other breakthrough discoveries includedEni’s Calypso gas find offshore southern Cyprus, which confirmed the extension of a play that resembles the giant Zohr field offshore Egypt to the south; and Quadrant Energy’s Dorado oil find, one of the largest ever in Australia’s North West Shelf.
While exploration spending declined by nearly 61% from 2014 to 2018, there has been an uptick this year, and Rystad expects a further increase next year.
12/17/2018
