High-impact exploration drilling in 2025 has delivered six confirmed discoveries, according to new data from Rystad Energy published on LinkedIn.
ExxonMobil’s Nefertari-1 opened Egypt’s frontier basin with a new find. BP’s El King-2 appraisal well confirmed recoverable gas volumes. Galp’s Mopane-3X in Namibia unlocked a new play. BP also struck hydrocarbons with a wildcat in Brazil’s Santos Basin. Petronas made an ultra-deepwater discovery in Malaysia’s Sabah Basin. Talos Energy’s Daenerys discovery added oil volumes in the US Gulf of Mexico.
High-impact drilling delivered 5.3 billion barrels in 2024 – Westwood | OilNOW
Six wells, however, were declared failures. ExxonMobil’s Elektra-1 in Cyprus, the first test in Block 5 of the Herodotus Basin, came up dry. KNOC’s Blue Whale-1, South Korea’s most ambitious offshore drilling attempt in years, did not deliver commercial volumes.
In Namibia, TotalEnergies’ Tamboti-1X, previously estimated at nearly 1 billion barrels of oil (boe) pre-drill, was unsuccessful. Chevron’s maiden Orange Basin well, Kapana-1X, also failed to encounter hydrocarbons.
Lanternfish-1 and Blacktip-1 among top global high-impact wells for 2025, says S&P Global | OilNOW
Results from several completed wells are still pending and could reshape 2025’s exploration picture. In India’s Andaman Basin, ONGC’s ANE-E and Oil India’s Vijayapuram-1 target a frontier basin with similarities to Southeast Asia’s prolific gas provinces.
In Nepal, CNPC’s Bhairavi-1 has already shown the presence of hydrocarbons and could potentially open up a new province, pending final tests. In Kuwait, KPC’s Jazza-1 represents the country’s first major offshore push in three decades, following earlier successes at Nokhatha-1 and Julaia-2.
