Latest Discovery! Global Oil And Gas Reserves Discovered Have Increased Significantly!

  According to the "Global Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Situation and Oil Company Dynamics (2023)" report, in 2022, 31 newly discovered conventional large and medium-sized oil and gas fields will be discovered around the world, accounting for 12.97% of the total number of newly discovered conventional oil and gas fields; the newly discovered conventional oil and gas recoverable reserves will reach 2.547 billion tons of oil equivalent, accounting for 86.34% of the total newly discovered conventional recoverable reserves. At the end of 2022, the total crude oil production of the world's top ten oil fields was 702 million tons, and the total natural gas production of the world's top ten gas fields was 791.363 billion cubic meters, accounting for 19.66% of global natural gas production.

At present, global deepwater oil and gas is still in the risky exploration stage with low exploration level, and has huge development potential. Moving into the deepwater field in the future is the only way for the development of the oil and gas industry.

  In 2022, global oil and gas exploration will bottom out, and exploration investment, block grant area, workload, and newly discovered reserves will show simultaneous growth. Among them, global oil and gas exploration investment will reach US$48.3 billion in 2022, an increase of 7.4 billion yuan compared with 2021, showing a trend of gradually returning to the level of exploration investment before the new crown epidemic. In 2022, there will be 259 newly discovered oil and gas fields around the world, with recoverable reserves exceeding 3.007 billion tons of oil equivalent. Among them, there are 239 conventional oil and gas fields, an increase compared with 214 in 2021; the recoverable reserves of newly discovered oil and gas fields are 2.95 billion tons of oil equivalent, an increase of approximately 940 million tons of oil equivalent compared with 2021, an increase of nearly 50%. In 2022, 20 unconventional oil and gas fields were newly discovered, with recoverable reserves of 56.72 million tons of oil equivalent. The reserve scale is far smaller than the recoverable reserves of conventional oil and gas fields.

  Judging from the regional distribution of conventional oil and gas recoverable reserves, the Americas ranks at the forefront, with 1.422 billion tons of oil equivalent, much higher than other regions. The newly discovered oil and gas fields in the Americas in 2022 are characterized by large number, large scale, and wide distribution. 73 new conventional oil and gas fields were discovered in the Americas, an increase of 21 compared with 2021. New oil and gas reserves in the Americas mainly come from the Guyana Basin, Campos Basin, Alaska North Slope Basin and Surest Basin. Among them, the newly discovered oil and gas recoverable reserves in the Guyana Basin are 683 million tons of oil equivalent, accounting for 48% of the total newly discovered oil and gas recoverable reserves in the Americas.

  Africa ranks second, with recoverable reserves of 922 million tons of oil equivalent; newly discovered oil and gas reserves in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Europe range between 100 million and 200 million tons of oil equivalent; new discoveries in Central Asia-Russia The recoverable oil and gas reserves are relatively small at 110 million tons of oil equivalent.

  Unconventional oil and gas fields discovered in 2022 are mainly located in Mongolia, China, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other countries. Among them, Mongolia and China have outstanding performance in unconventional oil and gas exploration. In 2022, 6 unconventional oil and gas fields were discovered in Mongolia's South Gobi Basin, with a total recoverable reserve of 26.39 million tons of oil equivalent. Unconventional oil and gas fields have been discovered in China's Sichuan Basin, Subei Basin, Beibu Gulf Basin and Bohai Bay Basin. Among them, 3 were discovered in the Sichuan Basin and 2 were discovered in the North Jiangsu Basin, with the most outstanding performance.

  Trends in recent years have shown that international oil companies have always adhered to strategic guidance, bucked the trend without distraction, continued to increase investment, and entered cutting-edge fields, emerging fields, and mature fields. Petroleum companies provide a strong guarantee for the scientific layout of oil and gas exploration by grasping the continuous development of oil and gas geological theories and the continuous advancement of exploration technology.

  In 2022, global oil and gas production will continue to grow, and unconventional oil and gas and offshore oil and gas will be the main growth force and important source of replacement for global oil and gas production. Geopolitics and crude oil prices have led to divergent changes in oil and gas supply and demand. High oil prices have stimulated investment, thereby promoting the growth of oil and gas supply; at the same time, high oil prices have also reduced the growth rate of oil demand. After the global COVID-19 epidemic, the overall economic recovery has led to a rebound in oil and gas development capital expenditures. Improvements in tight oil and gas and shale oil and gas development technologies have helped U.S. oil and gas production increase rapidly.

As of the end of 2022, global crude oil production was 4.518 billion tons, natural gas production was 4.0251 trillion cubic meters, and total oil and gas production was 7.916 billion tons of oil equivalent. From a regional perspective, global oil and gas production is unevenly distributed, showing the characteristics of “two large, one medium and three small”. Taking 2 billion tons of oil equivalent and 1 billion tons of oil equivalent as the dividing point, the "two majors" are the Americas and the Middle East, with oil and gas production greater than 2 billion tons of oil equivalent; the "one middle" is the Central Asia-Russia region, with oil and gas production of 14.02 billion tons of oil equivalent; the “three small” regions are Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, with oil and gas production less than 1 billion tons of oil equivalent.

  Compared with 2021, global oil and gas production will increase by 210 million tons of oil equivalent in 2022, an increase of 2.73%. In 2022, the Americas will be the main region for increased oil and gas production, with an increase of 142 million tons of oil equivalent, a year-on-year increase of 5.79%; the Middle East will increase 96 million tons of oil equivalent, a year-on-year increase of 4.73%; the Asia-Pacific region will increase 0.05 million tons of oil equivalent, a year-on-year increase 0.58%.

  The changes in oil and gas production in 2022 will show the following main characteristics. In terms of onshore conventional oil and gas, 76% of conventional gas fields in the United States are in the late stages of development and are declining rapidly. Compared with 2021, natural gas production will decrease by 26.4 billion cubic meters in 2022. In terms of offshore oil and gas, affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, oil fields in Saudi Arabia's waters have rapidly increased production, quickly filling Russia's sharply reduced share of crude oil exports to some countries and organizations. In terms of unconventional oil and gas, North American unconventional oil and gas production will hit a record high in 2022, mainly due to increased investment in unconventional oil and gas in North America. Among them, US tight oil investment increased by US$20.9 billion, an increase of 18%; shale gas increased by US$317 million, the first positive growth in five years. Canadian oil sands investment increased by US$1.7 billion, rebounding for the fifth consecutive year.

  This year coincides with the tenth anniversary of the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative. There is huge potential for the development of global oil and gas resources. Chinese oil companies have achieved fruitful results in cooperation in the field of oil and gas. There are broad prospects for energy cooperation in countries along the “Belt and Road”. The report recommends that Chinese oil companies increase the development of onshore conventional oil and gas fields along the "One Belt and One Road", vigorously implement pilot trials of enhanced oil and gas recovery development; improve offshore oil and gas operation capabilities, promote the economic and efficient development of tight/shale oil and gas, and continuously improve Overseas core competitiveness and enhanced core functions can effectively ensure national energy security and meet people’s energy needs for a better life.

  At present, sea areas are still the main battlefield for exploration and discovery by major oil companies. The areas on both sides of the Central and South Atlantic, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Black Sea have continued the good momentum in recent years and continue to lead the growth of new global reserves. The pace of oil and gas exploration and development in global sea areas has accelerated significantly, and reserves and production have increased steadily, especially deep water (including ultra-deep water), which has always been the focus of the seven major international oil companies (Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, Total Energy, Chevron, Al In a hot area where Quino and Eni are deeply engaged, the growth rate of ultra-deepwater oil and gas production exceeds that of deepwater, and it has become a strategic successor area for global oil and gas resources. In 2022, a total of 21 large and medium-sized oil and gas fields were discovered in the global deep water and ultra-deep water fields, with recoverable reserves of 2.006 billion tons of oil equivalent, and reserves increased by 86.42% year-on-year. The report shows that in 2022, global deepwater oil and gas production will further increase to 10.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, accounting for 6.4% of global oil and gas production. With the further release of deepwater oil and gas production capacity in Brazil, Guyana and other regions, global deepwater oil and gas production is expected to exceed 17 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2030. By then, nearly one-tenth of the world's oil and gas supply will come from deepwater, a significant increase of nearly 10% from 2022. 71%.

Although the number of countries participating in deepwater oil and gas development is gradually increasing, global deepwater oil and gas production is still concentrated in the traditional "Golden Triangle" countries and regions, mainly the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, and West Africa. Brazil and the United States dominate, with deepwater oil and gas production in 2022 of 154 million tons of oil equivalent and 100 million tons of oil equivalent respectively; Angola and Nigeria also have considerable production, with 44 million tons of oil equivalent and 30 million tons of oil equivalent respectively. The total deepwater oil and gas production of these four countries is 328 million tons of oil equivalent, accounting for 65% of global deepwater oil and gas production.

  The high investment, high technology, high risk and other characteristics of deepwater oil and gas development have set very high entry barriers for participating oil companies. However, the high returns associated with deepwater oil and gas business continue to attract oil companies to actively participate in deepwater oil and gas development. According to Wood Mackenzie statistics, in 2022, a total of 251 companies around the world have deepwater oil and gas reserves, and a total of 137 oil and gas companies have deepwater oil and gas production. Among these companies are national oil companies, international oil companies and independent oil companies. Cooperation has become a major feature of deepwater project development. The report analyzes that eight major companies, represented by Petrobras, Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, Total Energy, Chevron, Equino, and Eni, are leading the development of deepwater oil and gas, and many companies are following, cooperating with each other and sharing responsibilities. risks, jointly forming an ecosystem in the deepwater oil and gas field.