EXXONMOBIL WILL INVEST MORE IN GUYANA AND BRAZIL

(PetroleoHoje) ExxonMobil is planning higher capex for the year 2022 due to the Yellowtail and Bacalhau projects, located in Guyana and Brazil, respectively, said senior vice president and CFO Kathy Mikells.

If approved by Exxon’s board of directors, next year’s capex will jump from the current level of $16 billion to $19 billion to $20 billion to $25 billion.

Mikells also says it will leave the budget open as the company is looking to quadruple investments in low-carbon technologies. The estimated amount is US$ 15 billion, to be spent between the years 2022 and 2027.

According to Darren Woods, president and CEO of ExxonMobil, the idea is to use the short-term returns generated by the company’s main businesses (such as Guyana and assets in the Permian Basin in the US) to finance the opportunities low carbon “that leverage our competitive advantages in technology, engineering and project development.”

The first Yellowtail oil is scheduled for 2025. The project will jointly develop the Yellowtail and Redtail fields, both located in the Stabroek block, offshore Guyana, which is operated by Exxon with a 45% interest, in partnership with Hess ( 30%) and CNOOC (25%).

The company recently reported that the Pinktail and Cataback discoveries have increased the estimated recoverable resource base to approximately 10 billion boe in the block. Six drill ships are currently operating on the block in exploration, appraisal and development drilling activities.

Bacalhau – a pre-salt field located in the Santos Basin – is operated by Equinor, and ExxonMobil is a partner with a 40% stake (in addition to Galp, which holds 20%). The first oil of the asset is scheduled for the third quarter of 2024, according to the presentation submitted by Ibama last year.

According to Exxon’s CFO, the Bacalhau drilling is about to happen. PetróleoToje contacted Equinor’s press office to find out if the drilling schedule had been advanced, but the dates remain the same for the field’s drilling campaign: from the second quarter of 2022, this being Phase I of the project.

ExxonMobil reported a profit of $6.8 billion in the third quarter of this year, up 43 percent from second quarter profit of the same year ($4.6 billion). In the same period last year, the company had reported a loss of $680 million.

The revenue for the quarter was US$ 73 billion, an increase of 8.9% compared to the second quarter of 2021 (US$ 67 billion) and 59% compared to the same period last year (US$ 46 billion).

In Brazil, ExxonMobil has a stake in 28 blocks located in the Sergipe-Alagoas, Campos and Santos Basins, 17 of which as the operator. In February and August 2021, the company began the exploration campaign in blocks C-M-789 and Titã, in that order. A discovery has already been made in the first block.