According to the annual estimates by the IFP EN, global investments in oil Exploration & Production (E&P) activities are slowing down and should only increase by 5% in 2014, from US$697bn in 2013 to US$734bn. Major oil companies are reducing their investment volumes (-8% on average), after having invested massively over the last years. The bulk of the investment increase should come from national companies (+10%) and from smaller international companies (+7.5%). The Middle East and North America should continue to pull investments (+10% and +8%, respectively). Investments in refining should increase by 16% in 2014 to reach US$82bn, mainly due to maintenance expenditures.
Source: Les Echos