Business year in review 2024
Anne Forbes A * , Angus Rodger B and John Gibb AA
B
Anne is a senior research analyst in Wood Mackenzie’s Australasia upstream research team. Since joining in early 2022, she has worked on oil and gas assets and the domestic market balance across Australia. Prior to Wood Mackenzie, Anne spent 8 years at Chemostrat in a technical geological role in the upstream industry. She specialised in stratigraphic analysis and has worked across Australia’s principal producing basins. She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Geology from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Volcanology from the Open University. |
Angus is Wood Mackenzie’s head of upstream analysis for Asia–Pacific and the Middle East. He has worked on Wood Mackenzie’s benchmark analysis of global pre-FID projects, deepwater, LNG, exploration and fiscal terms. Since joining Wood Mackenzie, Angus has worked on a variety of upstream projects across Asia and Australasia. He has advised both national and independent oil companies on new business development including stranded gas monetisation, exploration strategy, regional basin screening and country-entry strategies. With a background in finance, research and journalism, he is accustomed to drawing on a wide range of information sources and quickly getting to the crux of an issue. He is a regular speaker at leading regional conferences and frequently provides insight on industry trends to leading news channels. Angus holds a BA Hons, Politics with International Relations from the University of Warwick. |
John is a research director in Wood Mackenzie’s upstream Australasia Oil and Gas team. He provides analysis of economics, strategies and industry trends across the region. John joined Wood Mackenzie in late 2022. He is a successful oil and gas professional, with extensive business experience in Australia and internationally. John’s career includes 27 years working with Shell in various upstream and downstream roles. He started with Shell in the UK, and then spent 21 years working in the Middle East, South America, Russia and Australia in various operating and project roles. John graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a BSc degree and is a member of CIMA (ACMA). |
Abstract
In 2024, the oil and gas industry navigated a complex landscape shaped by the energy transition, geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic challenges. Intensifying pressure to decarbonise has led to growth in carbon capture and storage projects but progress at many mega-scale hydrogen projects has fizzled out. With oil and gas demand continuing to grow, many players that had been looking to diversify leaned back into their upstream portfolios, looking for new opportunities to build and grow. As a result, upstream mergers and acquisitions activity remained robust, with a focus on consolidation in US shale and world-class ‘advantaged assets’. However, spend was down on the record levels seen in 2023 following the giant ExxonMobil-Pioneer and Chevron-Hess acquisitions. This was reflected in Australia too, with fewer deals than 2023. However, the deals that did complete in 2024 were large and strategically important. These included Chevron and Woodside’s Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) asset swap and Hancock acquiring Mineral Resources’ Lockyer gas project. The industry also grappled with high interest rates, inflation and supply chain constraints, leading to increased capital expenditure costs and some delays to project sanctioning. Exploration activity decreased, but significant discoveries were made in West Africa in particular. Offshore Australian exploration is at an all-time low; however, onshore activity kept pace with 2023. Looking ahead, key areas to watch include investment in low-carbon technologies, big gas project deliveries, geopolitical and economic policy shifts, particularly in the US, and the long-term impact of cost pressures on project economics.
Keywords: 2024, CCUS, decarbonisation, energy transition, exploration, gas, hydrogen, mergers and acquisitions, oil, year in review.
Anne is a senior research analyst in Wood Mackenzie’s Australasia upstream research team. Since joining in early 2022, she has worked on oil and gas assets and the domestic market balance across Australia. Prior to Wood Mackenzie, Anne spent 8 years at Chemostrat in a technical geological role in the upstream industry. She specialised in stratigraphic analysis and has worked across Australia’s principal producing basins. She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Geology from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Volcanology from the Open University. |
Angus is Wood Mackenzie’s head of upstream analysis for Asia–Pacific and the Middle East. He has worked on Wood Mackenzie’s benchmark analysis of global pre-FID projects, deepwater, LNG, exploration and fiscal terms. Since joining Wood Mackenzie, Angus has worked on a variety of upstream projects across Asia and Australasia. He has advised both national and independent oil companies on new business development including stranded gas monetisation, exploration strategy, regional basin screening and country-entry strategies. With a background in finance, research and journalism, he is accustomed to drawing on a wide range of information sources and quickly getting to the crux of an issue. He is a regular speaker at leading regional conferences and frequently provides insight on industry trends to leading news channels. Angus holds a BA Hons, Politics with International Relations from the University of Warwick. |
John is a research director in Wood Mackenzie’s upstream Australasia Oil and Gas team. He provides analysis of economics, strategies and industry trends across the region. John joined Wood Mackenzie in late 2022. He is a successful oil and gas professional, with extensive business experience in Australia and internationally. John’s career includes 27 years working with Shell in various upstream and downstream roles. He started with Shell in the UK, and then spent 21 years working in the Middle East, South America, Russia and Australia in various operating and project roles. John graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a BSc degree and is a member of CIMA (ACMA). |
Reference
DCCEW (2024) Australian Energy Statistics. (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water) Available at https://www.energy.gov.au/energy-data/australian-energy-statistics [accessed 1 April 2025]
