ABSTRACT

In 2024, the oil and gas industry navigated a complex landscape shaped by the energy transition, geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic challenges. Intensifying pressure to decarbonise has led to growth in carbon capture and storage projects but progress at many mega-scale hydrogen projects has fizzled out. With oil and gas demand continuing to grow, many players that had been looking to diversify leaned back into their upstream portfolios, looking for new opportunities to build and grow. As a result, upstream mergers and acquisitions activity remained robust, with a focus on consolidation in US shale and world-class ‘advantaged assets’. However, spend was down on the record levels seen in 2023 following the giant ExxonMobil-Pioneer and Chevron-Hess acquisitions. This was reflected in Australia too, with fewer deals than 2023. However, the deals that did complete in 2024 were large and strategically important. These included Chevron and Woodside’s Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) asset swap and Hancock acquiring Mineral Resources’ Lockyer gas project. The industry also grappled with high interest rates, inflation and supply chain constraints, leading to increased capital expenditure costs and some delays to project sanctioning. Exploration activity decreased, but significant discoveries were made in West Africa in particular. Offshore Australian exploration is at an all-time low; however, onshore activity kept pace with 2023. Looking ahead, key areas to watch include investment in low-carbon technologies, big gas project deliveries, geopolitical and economic policy shifts, particularly in the US, and the long-term impact of cost pressures on project economics.