Project sanctions to exceed pre-COVID-19 levels from 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated global oil and gas project sanctioning this year and will cause total offshore committed spending to reach $34 billion in 2020, down from 2019’s $101 billion, according to Rystad Energy. However, postponed plans will cause the total worth of final investment decisions to double next year and exceed pre-pandemic levels from 2022. The consultant estimates total sanctioning to bounce back to around $100 billion in 2021, primarily supported by offshore projects, whose value is forecasted at $64 billion for the year. Although lagging onshore projects are projected to only account for $36 billion in 2021, they will see a steep rise in 2022 to around $100 billion, topping the expected $95 billion worth of offshore commitments that year.