Chevron and Marathon Oil have both announced significant expenditure on exploration in their 2012 budgets.
Chevron is set to lay out some $28bn in capital expenditure on exploration projects, with a further $4.5bn being used to complete its purchase of Atlas Energy. The programme also includes ongoing expenditure on long-term development activities.
Liquified Natural Gas and deepwater drilling are the major highlights, including two "world class" LNG projects already underway in Australia. Almost $9bn is destined for the US alone including deepwater exploration in the the Gulf of Mexico and development of the Marcellus Shale field.
Chevron is predicting a net 20% increase in its oil and gas production to 3.3mb/d by 2017.
Meanwhile, smaller US producer, Marathon Oil, will spend some $4.8bn in 2012 and focus on "liquids-rich US resource plays" to boost its production output. Almost half of the spend is earmarked for shale development in the Eagle Ford field in South Texas, with other shale developments in North Dakota and Oklahoma also receiving cash injections. Oil sands mining will receive around $275m next year.