Australian exploration collapses on lower crude prices

摘要

Sydney-Petroleum exploration activity in Australia has collapsed in the wake of the plunge global oil prices over the last 18 months, a period in which the country’s crude production has fallen to its lowest level in 45 years, according to a report released Wednesday at an industry conference in Sydney. The total number of oil and gas exploration and development wells drilled in Australia almost halved in 2015 to 821 from 1,534 in 2014, the report’s author, EnergyQuest CEO Graeme Bethune, told the Australian Domestic Gas Outlook conference. The number of exploration wells drilled last year dropped to just 54, down from 119 in 2014, he said.