Q4 2020 pre-FID upstream project tracker: deepwater Brazil and Guyana make the grade

The Q4 2020 pre-FID upstream project tracker provides our latest view of major project FIDs in an Excel spreadsheet deliverable. Last quarter proved to be pivotal for deepwater oil in Guyana and Brazil. Major FIDs were taken in both countries, doubling new global committed capex for the year. ExxonMobil's Payara deepwater oil project, third phase at the Stabroek block in Guyana, stole the headlines. Government approval of the project eventually came in September, and ExxonMobil and partners sanctioned the FPSO development shortly afterwards. As expected, deepwater oil projects in Brazil also made it over the line. Petrobras sanctioned the third FPSO at Mero as well as the Itapu project. But it wasn't all about deepwater. Equinor also gave the go-ahead for its Breidablikk project in the Norwegian North Sea in September.