Exploration may be back on the agenda for the Supermajor+ group, but where are the wells?
Since 2024, the six global heavyweight companies that make up the Supermajor+ group – BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies – have been refilling their exploration funnels. 376 exploration agreements, covering net ~583,000km2, were signed by the group between 2024 and end Q1 2026. All six companies increased their exploration acreage globally in 2025, compared to 2024, using a range of access methods.
However, the tactics are different this time around. Out are the traditional well commitments and in are low cost, low commitment arrangements over extensive areas, in the form of study agreements.
In a new research report available to Wildcat subscribers, Westwood has collated all the exploration agreements announced by the Supermajor+ group of companies between 2024-Q1 2026 and analysed the type of agreements, the commitments made, the net area added and the strategy used by each company to access exploration acreage.
- Africa was the region of choice overall accounting for 62% of the net exploration area added.
- Chevron accessed the largest net exploration area between 2024-Q1 2026, at ~137,000km2, in 20 different countries, with 10 new upstream country entries. BP entered the fewest, accessing net ~56,000km2 in nine countries, two of which were new to its upstream business.
- Study agreements, in the form of MOUs or Reconnaissance Licence agreements, accounted for 41% of the net exploration area added to the group’s portfolios.
Net exploration area accessed by the Supermajor+ group, by access method, 2024-Q1 2026. Source: Westwood Wildcat.
The recent proliferation of acreage deals has been taken as a signal of a return to exploration; however, the focus is on creating future optionality rather than a full-scale commitment to more exploration drilling. Only 10% of the agreements are reported to have plans or commitments to seismic acquisition or reprocessing and only 8% reported the intention to drill a well in the initial phase, representing ~39 exploration wells, of which five are high impact frontier basin tests. It is unlikely that committed wells will have any significant impact on the annual number of high impact wells drilled in the next few years.
The Supermajor+ companies have used various approaches to access acreage. 87% of the net acreage accessed by ExxonMobil is under a MOU whilst 88% of Chevron’s acreage is held under a formal licence.
Whilst this may be good news for the Supermajors+, smaller E&Ps may have limited access to early stage frontier acreage covered by the large study agreements and new seismic data acquisition may be delayed until after the formal award of a licence.
The question remains how much of this early stage acreage access will flow into formal licences and subsequent drilling. Watch this space!
Christine Shearman, Farmouts Research Manager
