Global oil and gas companies have reduced planned investments to 2016 and 2017 to 370 billion dollars. About it reports “Interfax” with reference to the report of the company Wood Mackenzie. Especially strong ($150 billion) was the fall of investment in the continental United States (excluding Alaska).
The most significant cost reductions are observed among companies producing oil shale deposits of the Bakken (North Dakota) and Eagle Ford (TX). They accounted for over a third of the fall of all investments.
It is also noted a weakening of the relationship between the number of operational oil installations and production. If the number of drilling rigs fell by four times, production volumes in the U.S. declined to the peak reached in 2015, a mere 12 percent.
Experts Wood Mackenzie indicate deposits of the Midland and Delaware (in Texas) as the most promising in the United States. A significant portion of the wells they concentrated on the best parts, additionally, there are more unspoiled places with low-cost production than in any other region of the country, the report said.
Oil prices over the past two years has fallen more than two times, and in early 2016, they fell to around $ 25. Low prices become the main reason for the sharp reduction of investment, because the profitability of oil production has significantly decreased.
