U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said nearly all of the U.S. outer continental shelf is being considered for drilling, including areas off the coasts of Maine, California, Florida and Alaska.
The Trump administration is beginning work on a new five-year offshore oil and gas leasing plan – the federal blueprint for future offshore development – in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic. This is a redo of the Obama administration’s programme for 2017-2022 and seeks public input before officials begin drafting proposals. Currently, 94 percent of federal offshore acreage is off limits to development, with natural gas and oil production being hindered by a lack of access to areas controlled by Washington.
According to Wood Mackenzie, final investment decisions are expected to double globally in 2017, rising to more than twenty in 2017 compared with just nine in 2016, while exploration and production spending will increase for the first time since 2014. Woodmac sees confidence beginning to return to the industry, with E&P spending up 3% to $450 billion and with costs expected to decline marginally. US Lower 48 spending is set to rise 23% to $61 billion, with upside if oil prices rise markedly and US independents are emboldened by a Trump presidency.
China has lost the top position as an investment destination to India, and has now opened up more sectors for foreign investors in order to catch up in the race between the two countries.
