Oil, gas exploration frontiers include Namibia, Guyana, SLB CEO says

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil and gas companies have increased exploration of frontier areas in countries such as Namibia, Surinam and Guyana, and that will create a new wave of future projects, SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch said on Tuesday.

"We have seen a rebound in exploration over the past two or three years," he said at a conference in Houston, Texas. SLB is the world's largest provider of oilfield services.

He pointed to developments in countries like Namibia as setting the next frontier for exploration. That country, which has yet to produce any oil and gas, expects first production from major offshore finds by 2030.

Companies are also focusing exploration efforts around areas where there is already existing infrastructure, Le Peuch said.

Majority of new oil production will come from the U.S., Canada, Guyana and Brazil in the near-term, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said last week.

In Guyana, Exxon Mobil anticipates bringing oil production to 1.2 million barrels per day by 2027, around 12 years after it drilled its first exploration well off the shores of the South American country.

(Reporting by Liz Hampton; Editing by Simon Webb and David Gregorio)

By Liz Hampton