North Sea upstream review of 2018: the Majors take centre stage

In this report, we look at the highlights of another captivating year for the North Sea (UK, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands). M&A soared with US$15 billion of value traded, and over twenty project FIDs got the sector moving again. Explorers discovered 800 mmboe – the highest level since 2013 and well above recent averages. But there were some areas for concern. Even if volumes discovered were up, exploration activity was at its lowest since the 1960s. And despite the FIDs, there was a lack of major greenfield sanctions. The change in the corporate landscape we’ve seen in recent years slowed down. Instead, it was the Majors who took centre stage and were active in the biggest discoveries, deals and FIDs.