Exxon Doubles Down On The World's Second Largest Offshore Oilfield

ExxonMobil plans to invest several million US dollars annually in the world’s second-largest offshore oilfield, Upper Zakum offshore the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on top of the US$6.5 billion it has already invested in the project since 2006, Christian G. Lenoble, President and UAE Lead Country Manager of Exxon (Al-Khalij), told Emirates News Agency WAM.

ExxonMobil is one of the largest investors in Abu Dhabi, according to the U.S. oil and gas supermajor. Exxon, in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), is investing in the Upper Zakum oilfield to boost its production capacity.   

In 2006, ExxonMobil became a partner in Upper Zakum, which is operated by ADNOC. Two years ago, the partners decided to boost the field’s production capacity to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2024. The Upper Zakum development uses four artificial islands, the largest of which is equivalent in size to 135 American football fields, Exxon says.

“ExxonMobil’s current focus is on Upper Zakum. We plan to invest several million dollars per year over the foreseeable future,” Lenoble told WAM.

Earlier this year, ADNOC and Exxon reviewed the progress in the US$30-billion expansion of Upper Zakum to boost the field’s production capacity to 1 million bpd by 2024. Exxon’s chairman and CEO Darren W. Woods visited the oilfield and discussed new opportunities for collaboration in the upstream and downstream sectors with UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber.

Commenting on the recent announcement of the launch of a crude oil futures exchange in Abu Dhabi to host the world’s first Murban crude oil futures contracts, Exxon’s Lenoble told WAM:

“The recent announcement on listing Murban is poised to get the full value of the supply chain and this is very impressive and on top of that we see a comprehensive digital revolution.”  

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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