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* Companies sharply cut back spending after 2020 oil crash
* Exploration buying at lowest in at least 5 years -data
* GRAPHIC: Slowing exploration https://tmsnrt.rs/3o1vxka
* GRAPHIC: Oil majors' spending https://tmsnrt.rs/3osp2bd
By Ron Bousso
LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Top oil and gas companies sharply
slowed their search for new fossil fuel resources last year,
data shows, as lower energy prices due to the coronavirus crisis
triggered spending cuts.
Acquisitions of new onshore and offshore exploration
licences for the top five Western energy giants dropped to the
lowest in at least five years, data from Oslo-based consultancy
Rystad Energy showed.
The number of exploration licensing rounds dropped last year
due to the epidemic while companies including Exxon Mobil, Royal
Dutch Shell and France's Total also reduced spending, Rystad
Energy analyst Palzor Shenga said.
"Acquiring additional leases comes with a cost and it
demands some work commitments to be fulfilled. Hence, companies
would not want to pile up on additional acreages in their
non-core areas of operations," Shenga said.
Of the five companies, BP saw by far the largest drop in new
acreage acquisition in 2020. Bernard Looney, who became BP's CEO
in February, outlined a strategy to reduce oil output by 40% or
1 million barrels per day by 2030. BP has rapidly scaled back
its exploration team in recent months.
Exxon, the largest U.S. energy company, acquired the largest
acreage in 2020 in the group, with 63% in three blocks in
Angola, according to Rystad Energy.
Total was second with two large blocks acquired in Angola
and Oman.
Acquiring exploration acreage means companies can search for
oil and gas. If new resources are discovered in sufficient
volumes, the companies need to decide whether to develop them, a
costly process that can take years.
As a result, the drop in exploration activity could lead to
a supply gap in the second half of the decade, analysts
said.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso;
Editing by Alexander Smith)
