Offshore staff
LONDON – GlobalData anticipates sustained interest throughout the year in deepwater acreage.
According to the consultant’s report: ‘Q1 2020 Global Bid Round Outlook - Increase in Deepwater Acreage Offered in Q1 2020’, around 60% of the acreage available in licensing rounds (either open or scheduled to close in the current quarter) is deep or ultra-deepwater.
Toya Latham, upstream oil & gas analyst, said: “With the increase in deepwater exploration drilling in 2019 and the largest discoveries of last year also mostly located in deepwater settings, it is likely that deepwater acreage offered by governments will continue to attract significant company interest through 2020.”
Sixteen licensing rounds are presently open with seven scheduled to close by the end of the month, with the US due to offer the largest volume of acreage soon under its Lease Sale 254.
Senegal too has launched its 2020 licensing round covering 12 offshore blocks, which will remain open until July.
Latham said the response would be the first test of the country’s recently updated fiscal framework, which increases the fiscal burden for new investments.
Later this year further license rounds are due to be staged across Africa, Asia, and South America, including Angola, Nigeria, Thailand, and Brazil.
03/12/2020
