LNG

ExxonMobil said upstream earnings potential was expected to double by 2027 from three years ago with more than 70 percent of capital investments being deployed in strategic developments in LNG projects around the world and in the US Permian Basin as well as in the South American nations of Guyana and Brazil.

The Irving, Texas-based major said that by 2027, upstream production is expected to grow by 500,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day to 4.2 million oil-equivalent barrels per day with more than 50 percent of the total to come from these key growth areas.

“Around 90 percent of upstream investments that bring on new oil and flowing gas production are expected to have returns greater than 10 percent at prices less than or equal to $35 per barrel, while also reducing upstream operated greenhouse-gas emissions intensity by 40-50 percent through 2030, compared to 2016 levels,” said ExxonMobil.

Corporate plan

The details came in ExxonMobil’s just issued corporate plan for the next five years, with a sizeable increase in investments aimed at emission reductions.

ExxonMobil’s priority LNG production areas are at the Golden Pass project in Texas, in the southeast African nation of Mozambique, in Papua New Guinea and in Qatar where its main partner is QatarEnergy.

The corporate plan through 2027 maintains annual capital expenditures at $20 billion to $25 billion, while growing lower-emissions investments to about $17Bln.

ExxonMobil forecast that earnings and cash flow growth was expected to double by 2027 compared with 2019.

There would also be share-repurchase program expanded up to $50Bln through 2024, including $15Bln in 2022.

“Our five-year plan is expected to drive leading business outcomes and is a continuation of the path that has delivered industry-leading results in 2022,” said Darren Woods, Chairman and Chief Executive.

“We view our success as an ‘and’ equation, one in which we can produce the energy and products society needs - and - be a leader in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions from our own operations and also those from other companies,” added Woods.

The corporate plan we’re laying out today reflects that view, and the results we’ve seen to date demonstrate that we’re on the right course.”

The company also remained on track to deliver a total of about $9 billion in structural cost reductions by year-end 2023 versus 2019.

In the Permian, the company said it was on track with its goal to reach net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions from its operated unconventional assets by 2030.

“We’re aggressively working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operations, and our 2030 emission-reduction plans are on track to achieve a 40-50 percent reduction in upstream greenhouse-gas intensity, compared to 2016 levels,” added Woods.

“We will continue to advocate for clear and consistent government policies that accelerate progress to a lower-emissions future. At the same time, we’ll continue to work to provide solutions that can help customers in other industries reduce their emissions, especially in higher-emitting sectors of the economy like manufacturing, transportation and power generation,” stated the CEO.

Chevron Corp., the second-largest US oil and gas company and a leading participant in the LNG market with two plants in Western Australia, has agreed a $50 billion deal to buy US energy company Anadarko Petroleum, one of America’s leading independent producers and a key stakeholder in Mozambique LNG assets.

Italian Energy company Eni has sold a stake to Qatar Petroleum in an exploratory block offshore Mozambique, where several LNG projects are being developed from other blocks in the Rovuma Basin.

Italian energy company Eni said it signed a contract in Mozambique to explore a new offshore block in the Northern Zambezi Basin after its successes in the Area 4 block of the Rovuma Basin from where it is currently developing onshore and floating liquefied natural gas projects.