New analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA) has found that worldwide oil discoveries fell to a record low in 2016 as companies continued to cut spending and conventional oil projects sanctioned were at the lowest level in more than 70 years, trends that could continue this year.
The IEA, a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, said in a statement Thursday that oil discoveries fell to 2.4-billion barrels in 2016, compared with an average of 9-billion barrels a year over the past 15 years.
