Oil and gas spending to hit record in 2014

Oil and gas companies will spend more money in 2014 than ever to explore for and produce oil and gas, with $723 billion expected to fund the global effort, according to projections from Barclays. The financial services firm projected that spending on exploration and production will jump 6.1 percent from the 2013 level of $682 billion, driven by high oil prices and increased success worldwide. “Despite fears of capital spending peaking, (capital expenditures) will reach yet another record this year, surpassing the $700 billion mark for the first time,” said James West, lead oil services and drilling analyst for Barclays. Rapid expansions in the United States, the Middle East and Latin America are among the trends driving the spending growth. In the United States, oil and gas companies have identified so many potential well sites that they could be busy producing from those known resources for decades, West said. “We believe well inventories are at the highest level ever for companies to drill in the United States,” he said...more