https://worldoil.com/news/2022/7/22/oil-exploration-picking-up-as-drillers-shrug-off-recession-threat/
15 replies (most recent on top)
Word on the street is that San Ramon is eyeing Alaska closely.
Chevron gave up on exploration around 2015.
@flxl, I'm talking about exploration and production, not marketing.
Actually I think Texaco was in Brazil more than 100 years.
@dcn: Chevron has been in Brazil going back to Texaco in the 90's. Frade was a logistical and geological nightmare (a lot like Angola). Lots of hoopla (but bad acreage) in the pre-salt play. Nearly 30 years of "activity" and not a single drop of oil discovered. ANP/Petrobras gets the prime acreage, everyone else gets B-tier acreage. Mexico will be a carbon copy (ask Talos about Mexico). Suriname is too late, haven't we drilled two dry holes there already? LATE BREAKING NEWS: Chevron exploration rises like the Phoenix from the ashes, valiantly farming-in on Hess Gulf of Mexico tie-back discoveries, acreage that Chevron of the past would have passed on.
Our exploration seems to have devolved to the old Unocal strategy during the 80s - slowly follow others, focus on flanks of plays, minimize cost, avoid risk. We are trying to get into Namibia, Suriname, Brazil, Egypt, etc months or years after others have made discoveries. This never ends well because the leftovers typically are over-priced once a discovery is made. The discoverer often has inside information we lack. It is the Jubilee disaster all over again.
@3zkp, sounds like you're describing GOMBU. After they replaced DWEP, all exploration ceased. Their only expertise is asset sales.
A significant discovery for our company or our industry would be over 1 billion barrels recoverable. Our last discovery of that size was almost thirty years ago with Kuito. Only, when we developed it, turns out it was only about 100 million barrels recoverable. Whoopsie.
The exploration mafia is alive and well. They have managed to permeate into development and areas where they are not qualified as a result of their pitiful portfolio performance. Time for the people that have pedigree in Development and business to take their space back.
I did some informal canvassing of people who have been around that long, and couldn't find any significant Chevron discovery in the last 20 years (yes, includes Tahiti) that current Chevron exploration management had any role in. In fact, what seems to happen is that the major contributors to significant discoveries 'disappear' (usually hired away by other companies) soon after the discovery is announced.
Unless it is a subsea tieback, 10 mmboe is not even economic in deep water.
The largest discovery by anyone currently in management is about 10 mmboe.
@ktr, I agree. You can look right now at who occupies the 'country manager' and staff and 'advisor' positions in exploration (typically by people too young and inexperienced to be 'advising' anyone) and you'll see your future presidents and EVPs, being 'nurtured' by the current occupants of those positions. Chevron Exploration hasn't had any 'results oriented people' in exploration management since a couple external-hire managers retired about five years ago, and definitely since the 2020 EOI purge. Chevron training (management and technical) being what it is, if you want 'results', you better hire some managers from other companies, where they are actually held accountable for their performance.
Chevron exploration cannot find salt water in the ocean, don't expect them to find oil anywhere.
Nope - Chevron has a very smart management selection process. If they want a holding pattern with image it's one person. If they want a get it done, results orientated person its someone different and if they want a soft image only it someone different again. When you see it in those terms its pretty easy to see the future of finding for CVX. Unfortunately the holding pattern people get to the highest levels in many groups.