In January-November 2021, oil and gas fields were discovered in the world with a total volume of estimated reserves of 4.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent – this is the lowest level in 75 years, Interfax reports, citing data of the Rystad Energy consulting company.

 In 2020, the figure was almost three times higher – 12.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

 «Although several promising wells are scheduled to be drilled before the end of the year, even a significant discovery may not be enough to increase the figure in 2021, as drilling may not be completed in time this calendar year,» Palsor Shenga, Vice President of Research for Production and Exploration of the Rystad Energy said.

 Two thirds of new fields (66%) discovered in 2021 contain liquid hydrocarbons, the rest is gas.  Last year the ratio was 56% to 44%.

 In November, fields with recoverable hydrocarbon reserves of about 219 million barrels of oil equivalent were discovered in the world.  The largest of them was the oil Yoti West, discovered by LUKOIL in Block 12 offshore Mexico.  The field's recoverable reserves are estimated at approximately 75 million barrels of oil equivalent.

 The discovery of Yoti West increases the total volume of hydrocarbons in LUKOIL's fields in Mexico, but they are still insufficient for commercial development, Rystad analysts say.  In their opinion, this will require new discoveries of a similar scale.