Offshore Oil Rig Investment in upstream operations in the oil and gas industry shrank by a quarter last year and is expected to continue shrinking this year by another 24 percent. Next year could see a continuation of the trend, which will represent the longest investment decline period in the history of the industry, says the International Energy Agency. In its latest World Energy Investment report, the IEA points out that most of the decline in upstream investment – a decline of over $300 billion – was a result of lowered costs. This could suggest quickly improving efficiency of exploration and production, but it’s far more likely that the lower costs are a direct result of rigorous cost-cutting by E&Ps across the board to weather the effects of the oil price rout. In absolute terms, investment in upstream oil and gas totaled $583 billion last year, representing the biggest […]