High-impact exploration drilling yielded 5.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in potentially commercial resources in 2024, according to Westwood Global Energy Group’s State of Exploration 2025 report.
The firm’s lead analyst Andrew Jackson said during a webinar on Wednesday that 19 such discoveries were made from 75 high-impact wells drilled worldwide.
The total marks a sharp increase from the 3 billion boe discovered in 2023 and reverses a recent trend of declining volumes. However, it remains well below the 9.4 billion boe found in 2020.
Westwood defines a high-impact well as one targeting an estimated resource of at least 100 million boe. “Sixteen of these discoveries, we estimate, to be equal to or greater than 100 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable resource,” Jackson said.
The largest discovery of the year came offshore Kuwait, with a major find by the state-owned Kuwaiti Oil Company. A second discovery was also made in Kuwait. Other key finds were in Russia, Namibia, and Suriname. Three of the five discoveries made in Africa were in the Orange Basin, a frontier area attracting heightened investor attention.
Single discoveries were also recorded in Europe and North America. In the latter, a well drilled by Eni and Repsol is considered potentially commercial as a future cluster development. Bolivia also delivered a gas and condensate find by state energy firm YPFB.
Despite the year’s gains, Westwood warned of longer-term concerns about resource replacement, especially in the global Emerging Play portfolio.
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Drilling activity slightly rebounded in 2024, with 75 high-impact wells drilled, up 10% from 68 in 2023 and roughly in line with the annual average since 2020. Jackson said, “The commercial success rate has remained relatively steady in 2024 at 25% and in-line more or less with the 5-year average, which stands at 27%.”
The average discovery size also showed a recovery, rising to 276 million boe in 2024 from 168 million boe in 2023. That rebound was partly driven by the scale of the Kuwaiti find. In contrast, 2020’s average stood at 471 million boe.
Still, Westwood reported 56 of the 75 wells as disappointments, highlighting the risks explorers continue to face.
