• Africa to host 40% of global high-impact oil wells in 2026
• Rystad identifies over 40 high-impact exploration wells worldwide
• Most African wells offshore Atlantic, targeting frontier deepwater basins

Africa will account for about 40% of the world’s high-impact oil and gas exploration wells planned for 2026, according to Rystad Energy. In a study published on Wednesday, Jan. 28, the consultancy identified just over 40 such wells globally.

Rystad defines high-impact wells as exploration drilling with strong discovery potential, either because of the expected resource size or the frontier nature of the targeted areas. This contrasts with development drilling in fields that have already been discovered.

The firm said nearly all of the high-impact onshore wells planned for 2026 are in Africa, with only one located in Greenland. Most of the offshore wells are in deep and ultra-deep waters, mainly off Africa’s Atlantic coast, where several basins are being targeted. This gives Africa the largest share globally, ahead of North America, Asia and Latin America.

S&P Global data published in 2025, based on 2024 findings, show that African oil discoveries were led by the Orange Basin and the Côte d’Ivoire Basin, which accounted for most of the new resources identified on the continent that year.

Abdel-Latif Boureima