ExxonMobil said on February 8, 2018, that it added 2.7 billion oil-equivalent barrels of proved oil and gas reserves in 2017, replacing 183 % of production.
During 2017, proved additions at Upper Zakum in Abu Dhabi totaled more than 800 million barrels of crude oil. Additions from liquids-rich unconventional plays in the U.S., mainly in the Permian Basin, totaled approximately 800 million oil-equivalent barrels.
Additions in the Permian are supported by ExxonMobil’s growth plan and increased drilling activity, expected to increase daily production to more than 600,000 oil-equivalent barrels by 2025.
Other significant new proved reserve additions were made in Guyana, where the company funded the first phase of development last year, and in Mozambique, associated with the project funding of the Coral FLNG project in the gas-rich deepwater Area 4.
Offshore Guyana, ExxonMobil has discovered recoverable resources, including current proved reserves and additional resources, estimated to be 3.2 billion gross oil-equivalent barrels prior to the 2018 Ranger discovery.
Production from Liza Phase 1 is expected to begin by 2020, less than 5 years after discovery. In Mozambique, ExxonMobil acquired a 25 % indirect interest in Area 4, which contains an estimated 85 trillion gross cubic feet of natural gas in-place.
ExxonMobil added 9.8 billion oil-equivalent barrels to its resource base in 2017 through by-the-bit exploration discoveries and strategic acquisitions. This was the largest addition to the resource base since the acquisition of XTO Energy in 2010. The resource base includes proved reserves, plus other discovered resources that are expected to be ultimately recovered.
Key resource additions were also made in deepwater Brazil pre-salt with the acquisition of interest in the 2 billion gross oil-equivalent-barrel Carcara field, onshore Papua New Guinea with the acquisition of InterOil Corporation, and Mozambique with the purchase of an interest in Area 4.
3 new discoveries offshore Guyana in 2017 also contributed to the by-the-bit resource additions. Additional exploration drilling in Guyana is planned in 2018 on the 11.5 million gross acres currently held offshore.
ExxonMobil’s resource base totaled approximately 97 billion oil-equivalent barrels at year-end 2017, taking into account field revisions, production and asset sales.
