There is no standard answer to this question, but as a rule of thumb it can take 3-10 years from the decision to explore, through to discovery, testing, development and the delivery of oil from a new field.

The time required depends on where the oil is and thus how difficult it is to discover, test and develop.

For instance, an offshore oil field in deep water can take much longer to discover and test, due to the challenging technical requirements. Drilling in deep water is also difficult and can be very expensive, so the explorers need time to raise the necessary money as well as meet the new technical challenges.