(World Oil) – Africa is predicted to stay the world’s most energetic area for high-impact oil and gasoline exploration drilling in 2026, pushed by continued curiosity in ultra-deepwater and frontier basins, in line with new evaluation from Rystad Power.
World high-impact wildcat drilling exercise carried robust momentum into 2025, with discovery success charges rising to 38% from 23% in 2024. Whole found volumes climbed 53% year-on-year to about 2.3 billion boe, reflecting renewed urge for food for large-scale, materials exploration alternatives.
Looking forward to 2026, Rystad identifies 42 deliberate high-impact exploration wells worldwide, with Africa accounting for roughly 40% of the whole. Exercise is predicted to pay attention alongside the Atlantic margin, notably within the Orange basin offshore southern Africa and throughout the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, reinforcing the continent’s position as a key progress engine for international exploration.
Extremely-deepwater prospects dominate the 2026 outlook, representing about 60% of deliberate high-impact wells. Main worldwide oil corporations are anticipated to guide drilling exercise, adopted by nationwide oil corporations and worldwide NOCs. Most wells will goal frontier areas, whereas a smaller share will take a look at rising performs or lengthen beforehand found basins with potential to grow to be future manufacturing hubs.
Outdoors Africa, Asia is forecast to host eight high-impact wells, led by Indonesia, with further exercise deliberate in India and Malaysia. Though Asia has delivered roughly 18 billion boe of typical discoveries over the previous decade, current volumes have been concentrated in a handful of mature offshore areas, limiting alternatives for big, play-opening finds.
In contrast, exploration exercise in North America continues to lag, with discoveries largely confined to mature basins within the U.S. Gulf of America. Restricted entry to new frontier acreage has constrained upside, leaving the area depending on smaller, incremental additions moderately than transformational discoveries.
Rystad’s outlook means that, regardless of increased capital depth, operators are more and more prioritizing frontier and ultra-deepwater exploration in areas akin to Africa, the place geological potential and scale stay enticing in a tightening international provide surroundings.
