Wood Mackenzie Names Most Admired Explorer

Wood Mackenzie (Woodmac) revealed that Eni has been named the upstream industry’s “most admired explorer” in Woodmac’s latest annual exploration survey.

“For the record-tying fifth time in our industry-leading survey, Eni has received the illustrious recognition of being named the most admired explorer,” Julie Wilson, Director, Subsurface Research, at Wood Mackenzie, said in the release.

“I would like to congratulate the company’s Exploration Director, Aldo Napolitano, and his global team for a well-deserved win,” Wilson added.

“The industry continues to admire operators who can not only open new frontiers, but also find large volumes of advantaged resources. Eni’s recent efforts and discoveries have been excellent examples of both trends,” the Woodmac representative went on to state.

In its release, Woodmac highlighted that its exploration survey is in its 16th year. The survey tallies views from across the sector and asks respondents to identify which explorer, aside from their own company, they most admire, the release outlined.

Woodmac also revealed in the release that Shell received the discovery of the year award, Galp Energies received the E&P explorer of the year award, and Petronas received the national oil company explorer of the year award in its latest exploration survey.

Shell bagged its award for the Jonker find and its previous discoveries in Namibia, in partnership with QatarEnergy and NAMCOR, the release highlighted.

“The Jonker discovery made in 2,200 meters of water off Namibia is part of a fast-emerging play that has the entire industry very excited,” Wilson said in the release.

“If Shell and partners are able to commercialize this project together with their other discoveries on the acreage, it will help establish an important new industry for Namibia,” Wilson added.

Woodmac highlighted in the release that this year marked the first time that Galp Energies has been recognized as E&P explorer of the year in the survey.

“It is another award stemming from drilling success in the active Namibian exploration sector,” the company stated in the release, adding that Galp “announced its giant Mopane discovery earlier this year and hopes to move quickly towards development”.

Woodmac noted in the release that Petronas has achieved “an impressive run of gas discoveries in its Malaysian heartlands”.

“Finds completed during 2023 added cumulative resources of over 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which will find a ready market in the country’s well-established gas industry,” it added. Woodmac also stated in the release that the company “enjoyed international exploration success in Suriname which has continued into 2024”.

“The exploration industry helps meet future energy demand,” Wilson said in the release.

“These award-winning companies, as well as many others, continue to discover advantaged resources that can displace less sustainable and more costly oil and gas supply,” Wilson added.

“Their development will reduce upstream emissions and support investment in clean energy alternatives through the energy transition,” Wilson continued.

When Rigzone asked Eni for comment on its award, Napolitano told Rigzone, “we are pleased with Eni’s Exploration reputation among our peers”.

“This award is the result of our recent successes, but also of the consistency of our results over the years, worldwide. It also demonstrates our proven ability to rapidly develop discoveries and create value,” he added.

Rigzone has contacted Shell, Galp Energies, and Petronas for comment on their awards. At the time of writing, none of the companies have responded to Rigzone yet.

In a release sent to Rigzone in June last year, Woodmac revealed that TotalEnergies had been named the upstream industry’s most admired explorer and received the discovery of the year award in its 15th exploration survey.

TotalEnergies received the discovery of the year award for the Venus find in Namibia, in partnership with QatarEnergy, Impact Oil & Gas, and NAMCOR, Woodmac highlighted in that release. Hess Corporation bagged E&P explorer of the year and Petrobras received the award of national oil company explorer of the year last year, Woodmac revealed in its 2023 release.

“The exploration industry continues to see an excellent series of high-impact finds in many parts of the world,” Andrew Latham, Senior Vice President, Energy Research, at Wood Mackenzie, said in that release.

“The industry remains very dynamic and these recognized companies, as well as many others, continue to deliver advantaged resources that can displace less sustainable supply,” he added.

“Their development will reduce oil and gas emissions and provide cashflow to fund investment in low carbon alternatives through the energy transition,” Latham continued.

Source: www.rigzone.com