Africa set to dominate offshore frontier drilling in 2026

Rystad Energy has identified 42 high-impact exploration wells globally that could go ahead this year, with a strong focus on ultradeepwater and frontier plays.

Africa will likely account for about 40% of this activity, mainly in the Orange Basin offshore southern Africa and the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, according to Aatisha Mahajan, Rystad's head of Exploration, Oil & Gas Research.

In Asia, Rystad anticipates eight high-impact wells, led by Indonesia with four, followed by India and Malaysia with two each. Mahajam, pointed out that over the past five years, these two countries have awarded most of the region’s new acreage (more than 200,000 sq km combined), which are mainly offshore blocks.

Last year, the main breakthroughs in the Asia-Pacific region were the Megah (Malaysia) and Hai Su Vang (Vietnam) discoveries, Rystad added. In North America, volumes proven in new discoveries fell to about 238 MMbbl, with Mexico contributing three finds (68 MMbbl) and the US Gulf four (170 MMbbl).