Energy companies had their most successful year for exploration for more than a decade in 2022
They discovered around 20Bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) last year, with a combined value of US$33Bn, based on Brent oil prices of US$60 per barrel, according to analysts Wood Mackenzie.
This was backed by major discoveries in Algeria, Brazil, Namibia and Qatar and others made by energy majors, BP, Eni, ExxonMobil and Shell.
Many of these new discoveries, along with those drilled in previous years, could result in new offshore developments and contracting opportunities for construction and support vessels this decade.
TotalEnergies discovered the most of all energy companies, having drilled almost 2.5Bn boe in 2022, followed by Petrobras (around 2.0Bn boe), QatarEnergy (1.8Bn boe) and Sonatrach (1.2Bn boe).
The total volume of oil and gas discovered was similar to amounts found in 2019, despite the number of exploration wells being less than half those during prepandemic years.
“2022 was a standout year for exploration,” said Wood Mackenzie director of global exploration research Julie Wilson.
“Volumes were good, but not stellar. However, explorers were able to drive very high value through strategic selection and focusing on the best and largest prospects,” said Ms Wilson. “The discoveries bring higher-quality hydrocarbons into companies’ portfolios, allowing them to reduce carbon by displacing less advantaged oil and gas supplies while also meeting the world’s energy needs.”
Exploration drilling opened a new deepwater play in Namibia and resulted in several deepwater discoveries in Brazil and Guyana.
“The average discovery in 2022 was over 150M boe, more than double the average of the previous decade,” said Ms Wilson.
Liquids accounted for 60% of discovered resources through exploration and appraisal drilling in 2022. This is only the third time in 20 years liquids made up the majority of new discoveries.
“There is a lot of uncertainty in future long-term demand scenarios for oil,” said Ms Wilson. “Explorers are accelerating oil exploration to meet near and mid-term demand, while gas exploration was focused in geographies that can supply the gas-hungry European market,” she said.
“In some cases, major leases are approaching expiration of the exploration term and companies are pushing to optimise their value.”
She forecast fast-tracked development of these 2022-discovered resources could result in production of around 1M barrels per day of oil and 0.5M boe of gas per day by 2030.
Also in 2022, energy companies drilled more appraisal wells as they pushed towards final investment decisions on multiple projects in what is anticipated to be a medium-term window of opportunity.
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