There has been a year-on-year decline in global oil and gas FDI, according to data from greenfield investment monitor fDi Markets. In 2008, 560 investment projects were recorded in the sector, compared with 207 in 2014. And, looking at data for the first nine months of 2015, this year-on-year decline looks set to continue. Looking at data from the first nine months of the year, fDi Markets shows a 33.33% decline in the number of projects recorded in 2015 compared with 2014.

Investment capital has also declined over the past nine years, from a high of $274.93bn in 2008 to a low of $78.89bn in 2014. So far in 2015, capital investment in the sector stands at $70.69bn.

Advertisement

Resulting job creation has also fallen. fDi Markets recorded 111,879 new jobs as a result of greenfield investment in the oil and gas sector in 2008. This fell to a low of 27,003 during 2012. Job creation figures rebounded with a year-on-year increase of 10.73% in 2013, but this trend did not continue in 2014, when 27,176 jobs were created representing a decline on the previous year. Figures for the first nine months of 2015 suggest that this decline is set to continue, with 25,374 new jobs created.

Asia-Pacific remained the leading destination for investment in the oil and gas sector between 2008 and 2015, with the US the most active source country in the period. With both global crude oil and natural gas prices falling from highs in 2008, a recovery in this sector, in respect to greenfield FDI, is looking unlikely. 

Find out more about