Following a disappointing slump in 2021, drilling of high-impact oil and gas prospects is set to bounce back this year, according to research by Rystad Energy.
A total of 33 high-impact wells are set to be drilled this year, the largest annual number since Rystad Energy started tracking the sector in 2015. While the number is just slightly more than last year’s 29 high-impact probes, drilling in 2021 yielded only 450 million boe because of the low success rate.
This year, however, discovered volumes from high-impact wells has nearly doubled, totaling over 1.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) – a positive sign for global hydrocarbon supply.
Rystad Energy classifies high-impact wells through a combination of factors, including the size of the prospect, whether they would unlock new hydrocarbon resources in frontier areas or emerging basins, and their significance to the operator.
‘Most productive’ year for drilling wells
“If the success rate seen in the first half of 2022 holds for the full year, we could be in for one of the most productive annual volumes total on record,” said Rystad Energy Senior Analyst Taiyab Zain Shariff.
“Last year was disappointing for discovering gas and liquid volumes from high-impact wells, but 2022 is on track to make up for that slump,” he added.
The global oil majors and other E&Ps account for more than 60% of the high-impact wells completed this year.
Majors have drilled eight high-impact wells, of which four resulted in commercial discoveries including TotalEnergies’ Venus and Shell’s Graff oil discoveries in Namibia, Exxon Mobil’s Fangtooth oil find in Guyana, and Eni’s XG-002 gas discovery in the UAE.
Of the 19 high-impact wells completed this year, 47% resulted in a commercial discovery, with the rest either dry or noncommercial and one still awaiting results. Only one find was a pure oil discovery, while the rest were either gas or liquids with associated gas. This year’s success rate, according to Rystad, is almost equivalent to 2020, which was one of the most successful years in volumes from high-impact wells.
