Moody’s, a renowned rating agency has said that global annual upstream spending needs to increase by as much as 54 per cent to $542 billion if the oil market is to avert the next supply shortage shock. In its latest report on the oil and gas industry, Moody’s noted that most producers continue to stick to conservative capital budgets for 2022, but slight growth can be expected as commodity prices jump. Currently, oil Exploration and Production (E&P) companies around the world are underinvesting in supply as they continue to keep capital expenditure (capex) low after the 2020 price crash and crisis, Moody’s notes. Annual upstream investment crashed by around 30 per cent in 2020 and has only slightly recovered since, according to the credit rating agency. “Our analysis demonstrates that upstream companies will need to increase their spending considerably for the medium term to fully replace reserves and avoid […]