Exxon Mobil is one of the major players in the global oil and gas exploration and recovery industry that slowed down their respective oil and gas searches in 2020, as the start of the coronavirus novel affects energy prices, triggering sharp cuts in spending by the major oil companies.
Earlier this week Denver energy analysts Oil and Gas 360, reporting on the challenges arising from the start of COVID-19, said offshore and onshore exploration license acquisitions by the top five energy giants in the west “Dropped to its lowest in at least five years” based on data produced by the energy consultancy in Oslo, Rystad Energy.
The revelation stemming from the Rystad report names ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch, Shell, and Total, as one among 
the major players forced to retreat in their exploration licensing activities due to the coronavirus attack.
Despite all this, the US energy giant, ExxonMobil, which has now become a Caribbean household name because of its discovery and oil recovery exploits Guyana offshore and more recently acquired its discovery activities on the Suriname sea, between 2015 and last year, were acquired. the largest acreage in 2020 among the elite group, securing three blocks in Angola, according to Rystad Energy. Total realized the second largest acquisition with two major inbound blocks in Angola and Oman, respectively.
In explaining the discounted acquisitions Rystad Energy’s analyst Palzor Shenga is quoted as saying “There are costs to acquiring additional leases and it requires certain work commitments to be fulfilled. Therefore, companies would not want to accumulate additional acreage in their non-core areas of operation. ”
Acquisition of exploration acres means companies can search for oil and gas. If new resources are found in sufficient volumes, companies need to decide whether to develop them, a costly process that can take years.
As a result, the decline in exploration activity could lead to a supply gap in the second half of the decade, analysts say.
Industry analysts are unlikely to consider ExxonMobil to be particularly discouraged by this development as the company is likely to have its hands filled with offshore oil recovery activities Guyana and Suriname in the near future.