skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Exploration into 1990s will still be shaped by politics, economics

Journal Article · · Oil Gas J.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6776855

Frontier exploration plays continue to yield sizable oil and gas discoveries, despite recent wide fluctuations in the price of crude that have altered exploration budgets and curtailed activity. Amauligak in Canada, Colombia's Cano Limon, Albacora and Marlim in Brazil, the Haltenbank prospects offshore Norway, North Yemen's Alif field, and lagifu in Papua New Guinea are all examples of the occasional reward of a giant field. With a stable oil price of between $15-18/bbl during 1987, international exploration levels will slowly recover. And it is likely that an average $18/bbl price for the year will be sufficient to put a number of deferred development projects back on track. Activity levels will still vary widely from region to region and country to country however, controlled by political as well as economic conditions. Exploration was hit especially hard in the U.S., where finding and development costs are high. Operators continued to spend a greater share of their exploration funds outside the U.S. in 1987.

Research Organization:
Petroconsultants Inc., Houston
OSTI ID:
6776855
Journal Information:
Oil Gas J.; (United States), Vol. 85:16
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English