尽管预算有限，但人们对边境钻探持乐观态度，尤其是横跨大西洋边缘、东地中海和亚洲的深水项目。去年，主要参与者获得的授标面积大幅增加，总计11.2万平方公里，比上年增加20%。值得注意的是，所有获奖区块都位于近海，其中39%位于陆架部分，28%位于深水，其余33%位于超深水。

然而，埃克森美孚、壳牌、雪佛龙、BP、TotalEnergies和埃尼等上游企业预计今年在勘探支出上将继续保持谨慎态度。根据Rystad Energy的一份报告，这些主要生产商在 2020 年至 2024 年间平均每年支出总计 70 亿美元，较之前四年期间的平均总支出 100 亿美元大幅下降。

Despite constrained budgets, there’s optimism surrounding frontier drilling, particularly in deepwater projects across the Atlantic Margin, Eastern Mediterranean, and Asia. Last year, major players secured a substantial increase in awarded acreage, totalling 112,000 square kilometres—an increase of 20% compared to the previous year. Notably, all awarded blocks were offshore, with 39% in the shelf segment, 28% in deepwater, and the remaining 33% in ultra-deepwater.

However, upstream players such as ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, TotalEnergies and Eni are expected to continue to exercise caution in exploration spending this year. According to a report by Rystad Energy, these major producers will have spent on average a combined $7 billion each year between 2020 and 2024, a sizeable drop from their previous four-year period during which average total spending was $10 billion.