GEM’s Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker (GOGET) is a survey of oil and gas extraction areas, including data on fields under development and in operation. At both national and corporate levels, many known oil and gas production entities are advancing the development of new fields.
Over the past two years, industry players have actively invested in exploration and continuously discovered new oil and gas fields. Since the International Energy Agency released its global energy transition roadmap, oil and gas companies have announced 50 new projects, 19 of which were discovered in 2023, with resources totaling approximately 7.7 billion boe. (GOGET tracks projects with resources of 25 million barrels or more. Due to this threshold, new discovery projects without assessed reserves, such as Saudi Arabia’s 2022 gas field, are not included. Thus, this is an underestimate of the number of discovered fields.)
According to the report, at the national level, among the 23 countries with significant oil and gas discoveries in 2022 and 2023, Guyana, an emerging oil player, ranks first in discovery volume, followed by Iran in second place and Namibia in third. The United States follows closely in fourth place, with China ranking fifth. Notably, among these 23 countries, Cyprus, Guyana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe—historically non-producers of oil and gas—accounted for 37% of the major oil field discoveries over the past two years.
At the corporate level, among the top 15 companies by ownership share in oil and gas discoveries in 2022 and 2023, the National Iranian Oil Company leads by a wide margin with discovered reserves of 3.665 billion boe. ExxonMobil ranks second with 1.607 billion boe, and TotalEnergies is third with 1.519 billion boe. CNOOC ranks fifth with 1.284 billion boe, while PetroChina is ninth with 859 million boe.
In Latin America, new discoveries in Cuba, Colombia, Guyana, and Suriname contributed the most to the region, accounting for 37.3% of new discoveries in 2022. Among the 23 countries with significant discoveries in 2022 and 2023, Cyprus, Guyana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, historically non-producers, made remarkable strides, accounting for 37% of total discoveries. Guyana leads with consecutive major oil discoveries in the Stabroek block, followed by Iran in second and Namibia in third, with the United States and China close behind.
