Oil and gas producers to quadruple investments

The Global Energy Monitor (GEM), an international civil society organization, released its annual update titled "Deep Drilling," part of the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker for 2024.

INVESTMENT DECISIONS FOR 20 SITES

According to the report, despite 2023 being recorded as the hottest year due to emissions from fossil fuels causing global warming, final investment decisions have been made for at least 20 oil and gas fields.

The estimated amount of oil and gas to be extracted from these fields is equivalent to 8 billion barrels of oil, which is comparable to all known oil reserves in Europe.

Additionally, last year saw the discovery of 19 new fields containing approximately 7.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

According to GEM's data, oil and gas companies worldwide are planning to give final approval for the development of 64 new fields containing 31.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent by the end of 2030. This represents a fourfold increase from the amount of fields for which final investment decisions were made last year until 2030.

DISCOVERY OF 20.3 BILLION BARRELS OF OIL

Since the International Energy Agency warned in 2021 that there is no need for new oil and gas fields to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees, oil and gas producers have approved 45 projects with a capacity of 16 billion barrels of oil equivalent and discovered at least 20.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent in 50 projects.

While South America and Africa are global hotspots for new oil and gas projects, countries with previously minimal production such as the South Cyprus Administration, Guyana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe account for more than one-third of the planned new field expansions.

Scott Zimmerman, Project Manager of the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker, stated in his assessment of the analysis that oil and gas producers cite every reason to continue discovering and developing new fields, but none of these reasons are valid. He warned, "Science is clear. New oil and gas fields cannot be opened; otherwise, the planet will be pushed beyond what it can sustain in terms of climate conditions."