What industry leaders expect in 2014

Compliled and edited by KURT S. ABRAHAM, Executive Editor

As we expected 12 months ago, 2013 has been another healthy year for the global upstream industry, albeit on something of a plateau in North America. Despite a recent, gradual decline of about 10%, oil prices have remained strong enough to sustain most projects underway or planned, worldwide. Some trends are a continuation of previous activity direction, as in operators focusing on oil and reducing gas drilling in North America, or NOCs and their partners ramping up projects in the Middle East. Other trends are new, within the last year, as in operators selling off increasingly larger chunks of non-shale assets in North America, so that they have more cash to focus on development of production in specific shale plays. Deepwater exploitation is also a growing core activity, as activity builds back in the Gulf of Mexico. Reflecting on these factors and others, in the context of their own segments of the industry, the members of World Oil Editorial Advisory Board—representing the full spectrum of E&P expertise—present their analysis and predictions for 2014.