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The Madrid-headquartered company has oil exploration & production operations in markets including Brazil, Alaska and Vietnam. It has also been investing in renewable energy since 2018. Repsol SA is currently exploring options for its Malaysian upstream operations including a potential sale.

Equinor, previously known as Statoil, has one of the largest exploration budgets in the industry. The Norwegian government-owned entity issued a record number of oil and gas licences last year. It has developed two of the largest gas fields in Algeria, with daily production of 65,000 boed.

DNO, partly owned by RAK Petroleum, has boosted output in Kurdistan and taken operatorship of Baeshiqa with a 32% interest in the license. In November, it reported a discovery in the Baeshiqa-2 exploration well. The Norwegian oil and gas operator announced a 29% increase in production in 2019.

RAK Petroleum holds a 40.45% interest in DNO, which is focused on exploration & production in Iraq & Oman. The Oslo-listed company, originally founded in the UAE, signed an exploration and production sharing agreement with Eni in April 2019 for Block A Offshore in RAK, which covers 2,412 km2.

Lebanon is on the Levant Basin in the eastern Mediterranean where a number of giant sub-sea gas fields have been discovered since 2009. Two exploration blocks were awarded in 2017, and it has issued a second licensing round. Bids for the second round were due on January 31, 2020.

Inpex signed an exploration concession agreement with ADNOC in March 2019, granting it exploration rights to Onshore Block 4. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, JODCO Exploration Limited, will hold and manage the interest in the concession. It is expected to invest up to $176mn during the exploration phase. The block covers 6,116sqkm.

Egypt is abuzz with activity, and it is not just natural gas making headlines. EGPC offered one of three planned international oil and gas exploration rounds in 2019, for the Western and Eastern Deserts and the Gulf of Suez. This was part of an ambitious plan to attract investors and grow domestic production.

The past year has not been easy for National Iranian Oil Company, with US sanctions strangling output from Iran. However, the company in August signed $5bn worth of research deals to start a new generation of exploration, with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh emphasising the importance of exploration for the nation.

ADNOC awarded its first onshore exploration concession to American company Occidental Petroleum, which will invest $244mn into the exploration phase of Onshore Block 3. The company also signed a $59mn exploration and production sharing agreement with Oman’s Ministry of Oil & Gas for Block 72, covering 3,530sqkm.

ExxonMobil acquired approximately 6,900sqkm offshore Egypt for exploration activities. This includes the North Marakia offshore block and the North East El Amriya offshore block. It will operate both block and holds 100% interest. The company also partnered with Mosaic Materials for carbon capture technology.