Subsea well startups worldwide 2010-2017

This statistic shows the number of subsea well startups coming onstream worldwide from 2010 to 2015, with a forecast until 2017. In 2014, 328 subsea wells worldwide came onstream or started achieving first production.

Subsea well startups

A subsea well startup refers to the initial operational commencement of a subsea well. Well startup is a difficult phase of the overall operation of a subsea well, and projections show a decline in the total worldwide number of startups in 2016 and 2017 as compared with 2015 and other previous years. The general decreasing trend of new offshore oil projects is linked to the ongoing global oil glut, which has made many oil and gas projects, particularly the more expensive projects, less feasible.

Subsea well startups by world regions

Africa and the Mediterranean had the most subsea well startups of any region worldwide in 2015, and it is projected to continue having the most startups through 2017. Similarly, the number of subsea trees awarded to manufacturers worldwide was the highest in the region that consists of Africa and the Mediterranean, at 77 awards in 2015. Although offshore oil production is steadily increasing in Africa and the Mediterranean, overall it accounts for a small share of the total number of offshore oil and gas rigs worldwide. Nevertheless, of all of the deepwater oil discoveries being made each year worldwide, Africa and the Mediterranean was the region that has had the most new discoveries each year since 2013.