The vast majority of new oil and gas extraction projects discovered, approved, and started up in 2024 were located offshore, exacerbating risks to oceans as well as running afoul of the scientific consensus that any new field is incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5°C, according to a new report from Global Energy Monitor.
Data in the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker show that, on and offshore globally, at least 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent (bboe) of resources were announced in new discoveries, nearly 4 bboe of reserves were approved for development, and about 6.5 bboe began to be tapped as projects started up.
Most of these developments are concentrated in the oceans. Eighty-five percent of new discoveries by volume were located in ten offshore fields. At least twelve projects reached a positive Final Investment Decision in 2024, all of which were offshore. Nineteen offshore projects produced first oil or gas in 2024 — 71% of the total volume of field startups.
Discoveries, project approvals, and startups all have marginal increases in offshore volume percentages compared to 2023.
Historically, onshore oil and gas projects account for the majority of production. However, exploration and extraction companies are focusing offshore, with increased attention on unlocking new frontier areas via high-risk, higher-cost, further offshore development.
GOGET data show that offshore discoveries have been growing in share of global discoveries per year, accounting for about 60% in the 2010s and around 73% so far in the 2020s.
The risks from offshore drilling exist throughout the lifecycle of a project. A United Nations report recently called for, among other things, the halting of new offshore oil and gas projects until a series of safeguards and assessments is made.
Scott Zimmerman, Project Manager for the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker at Global Energy Monitor, said, “'Out of sight, out of mind’ does not work in high-risk scenarios like offshore oil and gas extraction. Expansions into uncharted waters are risky bets – financially, for ecosystems, and for the climate.”
