Offshore staff
LONDON – Seventy-four high-impact exploration wells were completed worldwide last year, according to Westwood Global Energy Group.
Activity was at a similar level to 2016-2018, but returns fell to 8.6 Bboe, down from 19 Bboe in 2020, split 64% gas and 36% oil.
However, the commercial success rate of 31% last year was up on the 23% averaged in 2016-2018, said Jamie Collard, senior analyst, Global Exploration and Appraisal at Westwood.
Most of the major new finds were in Russia, the largest elsewhere appearing to be Eni’s Baleine in deepwater offshore Côte d’Ivoire.
Only 15 frontier exploration wells were completed, the lowest (according to Westwood) since 2008, and only one delivered even a modest commercial discovery.
The main emerging exploration play was the Upper Cretaceous offshore Suriname-Guyana, bringing four discoveries with reserves of ~1 Bboe. In more mature plays drilling led to 13 potentially commercial finds, but only seven of those appear to be >100 MMboe.
Most active high-impact explorers were ExxonMobil (13 wells), TotalEnergies, Petronas, and Shell (nine each).
The dip in frontier exploration drilling suggests the industry is less concerned with long-term renewal of resources and is instead focusing on quicker returns, Collard said.
This year’s drilling plans suggests the pattern will continue with 70-80 high impact wells expected to complete during 2022.
Locations to watch will be South America’s Suriname-Guyana basin, offshore Brazil, the US and Mexican sectors of the Gulf of Mexico, and the Flemish Pass off Eastern Canada.
Other frontier tests are planned in Africa’s Orange, Rio Muni, Mozambique, and Lamu basins.
In Northwest Europe, ~10 high-impact wells should be drilled, while a largest prospect is due to be drilled in the Iranian Caspian Sea.
Westwood estimates the combined unrisked pre-drill resource potential in 2022 of ~30 Bboe.
This year’s exploration line-up is dominated by commitment wells on licenses acquired prior to 2020, Collard pointed out.
01/19/2022
