2020 high impact exploration and 2021 key wells to watch
11 Jan 2021
High impact exploration has weathered a perfect storm of a pandemic, an oil price crash and an accelerating energy transition, and enters 2021 with a substantial drilling programme that should at least match 2020 - according to
High-impact exploration started well in 2020 with the first quarter seeing the highest number of wells completed since Q4 2014 and commercial success rates above 30%. It was not to last. The world changed in Q2 with the Covid-19 pandemic taking hold, seeing oil prices crash and exploration budgets slashed. The impact of the pandemic became apparent in Q3 2020, with just seven high impact wells completed, the lowest quarterly figure since Westwood’s records began in 2008.