Global Drilling Activity

The anticipated governmental stimulus packages and associated demand for metals are expected to keep metal prices at elevated levels.
Due to higher metals prices, budgets for exploration have increased.
Exploration budgets generally move with metals prices, often with a 1-year lag. The S&P Exploration Price Index rose 31% yoy in 2020, leading to a projected 25%-35% increase in exploration budgets in 2021 to nearly US$ 9bn.
A similar budget increase was driven by a metal price rally in 2010, when the price index rose 27% yoy and exploration budgets jumped 44%, followed by strong increases in the next two years, by 50% in 2011 and 19% in 2012.
Even though prices for some commodities, such as gold and copper, have exceeded their previous highs of 2011, we are not (yet) seeing exploration budgets revisit their highs from almost a decade ago.