Drilling in the East Med ground to a halt during 2020 as firms reeled from the impact of collapsed oil prices. The last deepwater exploration came in June with the Bashrush find on Egypt's North El Hammad block (Eni 37.5%op, BP 37.5%, Total 25%: MEES, 3 July 2020) and BP’s dry hole at the Atoll North prospect on the North El Tabya block.
ExxonMobil was among other majors in slashing capital spending for 2020, and it also plans to keep the purse strings tight this year (MEES, 5 February). But this has not stopped it following through on East Mediterranean expansion. (CONTINUED - 657 WORDS)
