Wells & Production Outlook

2026-2032 Edition Available

Westwood’s Wells & Production Outlook series comprises four regional reports covering onshore and offshore drilling and production forecasts across Africa & Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Published twice yearly, the reports can be purchased individually or as a discounted bundle.

Wells & Production Outlook 2026-2032: Africa & Europe
Wells & Production Outlook 2026-2032: Americas
Wells & Production Outlook 2026-2032: Asia Pacific
Wells & Production Outlook 2026-2032: Middle East

Each report provides a detailed review of oil market fundamentals, indicative liquids and gas demand, and global supply/demand balance along with highlights of recently sanctioned fields. They include comprehensive country outlooks for oil and gas projects, wells drilled and production, complete with an accompanying Excel databook for underlining wells and production data by country.

This is essential reading for drilling contractors, original equipment manufacturers, oilfield service companies and financial institutions looking to understand the opportunities in the current upcycle and associated risk.

Africa & Europe Outlook 2026-2032

African liquids production is forecast to grow 7% from 2025 levels by 2032, driven by new project startups in Namibia and Uganda, alongside recovery in key producers such as Libya and Nigeria. Gas production is expected to grow much faster, rising 31%, supported by growth across the continent and led by Mozambique, where three major LNG developments are forecast to drive a 401% increase in gas output. European production is forecast to decline 5% from 2025 levels by 2032, reflecting the maturity of many of the region’s producers, including Azerbaijan, Norway and the UK. However, growth from sanctioned offshore developments in Cyprus and Romania, alongside continued expansion of Turkmenistan’s Galkynysh gas field, will provide pockets of production growth.

Regional Highlights:

• Over 8,000 wells are expected to be drilled in Africa over 2026-2032, a 29% rise over the hindcast. This includes 361 subsea wells, a 35% increase over the hindcast total and reflecting a resurgence in deepwater activity.
• A total of 59,000 wells could be drilled in Europe, driven predominantly by onshore drilling in Eastern Europe. By percentage, subsea once again leads, growing 10% on the hindcast, with consistent activity in Norway and new projects in places such as Cyprus driving this increase.
• Norway declines by 19% from 2026 to 3.2mmboepd by 2032 as many major projects mature and begin to decline, though significant investment and ongoing exploration efforts will soften the rate of decline.
• Cyprus (Cronos and Aphrodite) and Romania (Neptun Deep) are expected to see their first deepwater projects start up, adding a combined 334kboepd.
• Nigeria rebounds from its 2022 low of 2mmboepd to over 3.4mmboepd by 2032, up 38%, led by new deepwater projects including Bonga North.

Americas Outlook 2026-2032

Production in the Americas, which is already the largest globally, is forecast to reach 70mmboepd by 2032, up 12% from 2025 (62mmboepd). Both liquids and gas are expected to grow robustly by 14% and 11%, respectively. Forecast drilling and production will be led by North American onshore activity, which is expected to account for 72% of total regional production. Growth in Latin America will be driven by the surge in production from onshore plays in Argentina and Venezuela, as well as deepwater projects in Brazil, Guyana and Suriname, all of which are expected to reach new production peaks. 770 subsea spuds, or 41% of the global total, lifting subsea output to 8.8mmboepd while surface production slides 14% to 2.6mmboepd.

Regional Highlights:

• After reaching a record 39.2mmboepd in 2025, the USA, the global production leader, is expected to maintain its position through to 2032, growing 7% to 41.6mmboepd. By 2032, operators are expected to pivot toward gas drilling to feed new LNG plants, and activity is expected to settle at 10,612 wells annually from 2027.
• Canada posted a record 9.3mmboepd in 2025 and averages 10mmboepd through the forecast on more than 36,000 onshore wells, with onshore gas up 22% to 3.8mmboepd as Cedar LNG and Ksi Lisims open new offtake routes.
• Guyana is the region’s standout growth story, with liquids production forecast to double to 1.8mmbpd by 2032. Sustained above-nameplate performance from existing Stabroek Block FPSOs, combined with six additional units expected by 2032, will support continued rapid growth.
• With the world’s largest FPSO fleet already in operation, Brazil could add 16 FPSOs over 2026–2032, pushing offshore liquids to a record 5.1mmbpd. The country is also forecast to lead subsea well installations, with 329 forecast through to 2032.
• With sanctions relief for operators, Venezuela is expected to see growth in both production (81% growth from 2025 to 2032) and wells drilled (93%).
• Argentina is forecast to grow 55% to 2.8mmboepd by 2032, driven by continued development of the Vaca Muerta shale play. A series of planned FLNG projects is expected to unlock export capacity, ease infrastructure constraints, and support this growth.

Asia Pacific Outlook 2026-2032

Overall Asia Pacific production is forecast to grow 10% from 2025 levels to 19.7mmboepd by 2032. Growth will be driven by an 11% increase in gas production to 12.8mmboepd, while liquids output declines 4% as mature oil fields age and operators prioritise gas development. While China will remain the region’s largest producer, Indonesia is set for strong growth, supported by a wave of deepwater developments including Gehem, Geng North, Gandang and Gendalo, sanctioned by the newly formed Eni-Petronas joint venture, Searah.

Regional Highlights:

• China is expected to see average production of 8.9mmboepd over the forecast, the largest in the region. The country will also remain the world’s largest driller, averaging over 14,500 spuds per annum.
• Indonesia is forecast to grow 42% on 2025, reaching 2.2mmboepd in 2032. Growth will be driven by deepwater gas developments, increasing subsea well installations from 11 over 2019–2025 to 44 during 2026–2032.
• With new projects focused on gas, Australia is expected to see a 14% decline in liquids; however, this will be counterbalanced by a 25% rise in gas, driven by Beetaloo shale and coal seam gas projects.
• Many other regional players, such as India, Malaysia and Pakistan, have ambitious plans to raise production; however, achieving this is likely to be difficult given declines at existing fields and a lack of project FIDs to raise production materially.

Middle East Outlook 2026-2032

The Strait of Hormuz crisis has disrupted exports and curtailed production across several major Middle Eastern producers in 2026. Output is now recovering, with Kuwait among the hardest hit, rebounding to 1.8mmbpd in July from just 0.6mmbpd two months earlier, albeit still 29% below February (2.6mmbpd). Despite the disruption impacting sanctioning and contracting activity somewhat, regional NOCs are focused on the long-term, with multi-billion dollars’ worth of contracts still being awarded in 1H 2026 – reinforcing the expectation of long-term growth beyond the immediate crisis. While alternative export routes have been proposed, new infrastructure will take years to develop, leaving the full reopening of the Strait critical to restoring production and supporting future growth.

Regional Highlights:

• If full export capacity is restored, total regional production is expected to grow 19% on 2025 by 2032, reaching almost 52mmboepd. The number of wells to be drilled is expected to grow 28%, reaching over 4,400 by 2032.
• Having left OPEC on 1 May and with a raft of already sanctioned projects moving forward, the UAE is expected to be the region’s standout growth market, with production forecast to rise 44% from 5.6mmboepd in 2025 to 8.1mmboepd by 2032, supported by almost 4,200 development wells.
• Saudi Arabia is forecast to remain the largest regional producer, with production growing 12% from 13.6mmboepd in 2025 to 15.3mmboepd by 2032, driven by offshore brownfield developments and its unconventional gas programme.
• Despite near-term disruption from damaged LNG trains, production in Qatar is forecast to be 36% higher in 2032 at 6.1mmboepd than it was in 2025, driven by a series of already-sanctioned expansion projects at the North Field.
• Despite accounting for 4% of regional production over the forecast, Oman will lead drilling activity, with close to 8,000 well spuds expected, 29% of the regional total.