Oil discoveries at 70-year low signal a supply shortfall ahead
Drillers have slashed their exploration budgets after prices tumbled by more than half two years ago
Oslo
EXPLORERS in 2015 discovered only about a tenth as much oil as they have annually on average since 1960. This year, they'll probably find even less, spurring new fears about their ability to meet future demand.
With oil prices down by more than half since the price collapse two years ago, drillers have cut their exploration budgets to the bone. The result: just 2.7 billion barrels of new supply was discovered in 2015, the smallest amount since 1947, according to figures from Edinburgh-based consulting firm Wood Mackenzie Ltd. This year, drillers found just 736 million barrels of conventional crude as at the end of July.
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Energy & Commodities
World’s biggest tea buyer Lipton’s sale of last farms is a strategy shift
Insurance firms deny Chevron’s US$57 million claim for Iran oil seizure
China's approves first gene-edited wheat in step to open up GM tech to food crops
Shell to sell Singapore oil refinery, chemicals assets to Glencore joint venture
Gold prices hold ground as traders eye US Fed cues
Suspicious China cooking oil is hurting US biofuels business