African Explorers adapt to lower prices

Companies have been tightening their belts in response to a lower oil price, but also anticipating the longer-term benefits from what they say is a long overdue fall in costs for services such as drilling and seismic.Faced with a sudden fall in the oil price, as well as a lower share price, Tullow Oil has slashed its exploration budget for the next year. France’s Total, the leading deep-water operator in the Gulf of Guinea, argues that the current high-cost, low-price scenario is unsustainable, while Ophir Energy’s more positive view is that, for companies with cash to spend, there will soon be opportunities as prices submit to downward pressure.