What industry leaders expect for 2017

Kurt Abraham / World Oil

Twelve months have come and gone since our editorial advisors offered their thoughts on the global upstream market, and still, the industry just wants one basic question answered: “When are things going to get noticeably better?” That’s a tough question to answer, and some of it depends on whether OPEC’s latest deal holds together. Nevertheless, the Baker Hughes U.S. rotary rig count rose 47% from its all-time low of 404 units working on May 20 and 27, to 593 on Nov. 23. Canada’s rig count of 173 on Nov. 23 was on a par with activity a year earlier, while the international count outside North America was still falling.

Meanwhile, the global E&P industry continues to cope by containing costs, limiting projects to the best value generators, and putting forth an impressive wave of R&D and innovation. In their market assessments, 14 of our editorial advisors show how the industry is utilizing fresh thinking and innovation to tackle a number of challenges, including exploration effectiveness, drilling and production efficiencies, systems configurations, big data utilization, the ongoing talent drain, health and safety issues, environmental stewardship, and regulatory matters.

Accordingly, we invite readers to peruse the analyses and predictions for 2017 by members of World Oil’s Editorial Advisory Board, representing various segments of E&P expertise. We want to congratulate Nathan Meehan for being selected as the Lifetime Achievement winner for this year’s World Oil Awards. He also is marking his 20th year as an editorial advisor and just finished his term as 2016 SPE president in September.