Exxon positioned to succeed in any price environment, CEO says
IRVING, Texas -- Exxon Mobil Corp. is positioned to succeed in any price environment by maximizing the competitive advantages of its integrated businesses and by investing in projects that generate high-value products across the commodity cycle, Chairman and CEO Darren W. Woods said Wednesday.
“Our job is to compete and succeed in any market, regardless of conditions or price,” Woods said during a presentation at the company’s annual analyst meeting at the New York Stock Exchange. “To do this, we must produce and deliver the highest-value products at the lowest-possible cost through the most-attractive channels in all operating environments.”
Exxon Mobil anticipates capital spending of $22 billion in 2017, an increase of 16% from 2016. Capital and exploration expenses through the end of the decade will average $25 billion annually.
More than one quarter of the planned spending this year will be made in high-value, short-cycle opportunities, including in the Permian and Bakken basins. Short-cycle investments are those expected to generate positive cash flow in less than three years after initial investment. The company has an inventory of more than 5,500 wells in the Permian and the Bakken, with a rate of return greater than 10% at $40/bbl, with nearly one-third generating significantly higher returns. Total annual net production growth from these basins through 2025 could be as high as 750,000 boed at a compound annual growth rate of about 20%.
At the same time, the company will advance longer-term projects focused on growing higher-value production in locations including Canada, Guyana and the United Arab Emirates. In Guyana, for example, two wells last year confirmed a world-class discovery with recoverable resources in excess of 1 Bboe. Guyana startup is expected by 2020, less than five years after the initial discovery well – a rare occurrence in the industry in terms of development time.
Exxon Mobil expects the startup of five major upstream projects in 2017 and 2018, which will contribute an additional 340,000 boed of working-interest production capacity. Odoptu Stage 2 in Far East Russia and the Hebron project in Eastern Canada are expected to start up by year-end. Other projects planned for startup in the period are the Upper Zakum expansion in the United Arab Emirates, Barzan in Qatar and Kaombo in Angola. Since 2012, the company has started up 27 projects, adding 1.2 MMboed of installed capacity. The company has an upstream portfolio of nearly 100 projects that are in various stages of planning, concept selection and construction.
These investments will support upstream volumes that are projected to be in the range of 4 MMboed to 4.4 MMboed through 2020.
