It has almost been a taboo subject in oil industry conversations over the past few years, but suddenly the talk is all about exploration spending, even in offshore frontier areas.
If it is more than just talk, it will raise the spirits of hard-pressed marine geophysical contractors.
Geopolitics, the retreat of Covid and full oil company coffers may have changed the global exploration outlook, no more so than offshore Norway.
Will Ashby, executive vice president, eastern hemisphere, at TGS, explains why: “The events of the last few months have obviously highlighted Western Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and the impact any disruption to supplies can have on prices.
