Global oil and gas explorers discovered 12.2bn boe in 2019, the highest volume since 2015, according to data from independent energy research company Rystad Energy
Rystad Energy said that the investment of the US company ExxonMobil in Guyana, with four new discoveries, helped boost the numbers last year. The research firm estimates that the discoveries in Guyana hold a cumulative recoverable resource of around 1.8bn boe.
Palzor Shenga, a senior analyst on Rystad Energy’s upstream team, said, ExxonMobil can be declared explorer of the year for a second year in a row thanks to its ongoing efforts and results in Guyana, along with significant investments in Cyprus. The supermajor was exceptional, both in terms of discovered volumes and value creation from exploration.”
Around 1.07bn boe were discovered by the ExxonMobil in additional net resources last year. Rystad Energy estimates the value creation from these volumes to be around US$2.7bn, largely driven by continued success in Guyana.
US independent Hess and Chinese state player CNOOC are second and third in the 2019 list of top explorers in terms of value creation from new discoveries, both benefiting from their partnership with ExxonMobil in the Stabroek block of Guyana.
Hess added about US$2bn in value from new discoveries last year, while CNOOC had value creation of about US$1.8bn.
The data showed French major Total took fourth place with about US$873mn in value creation from its 2019 exploration activities. “Total’s value creation from exploration in 2019 was largely driven by the play-opening success with the Brulpadda find in South Africa,” added Shenga.
In 2020, Rystad Energy expects the global discovered volumes to continue the rising trend of recent years, with the list of upcoming wildcats including several high-impact wells along with some promising probes delayed from 2019.
