ExxonMobil Corporation plans to shift its focus to U.S. shale drilling for the remainder of 2017.
Related: Marathon Announces 2017 Plan for Bakken
ExxonMobil executives announced last week they anticipate their 2017 capital spending program to be around $22 billion, an increase of 16 percent from 2016. Of that amount, they will allocate $5.5 billion for drilling in Bakken Shale and Permian basin.
“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. ”
ExxonMobil's 2017 shale activity includes targeting annual output equivalent to 4 million to 4.4 million barrels of oil a day. The company is currently active with 5,500 wells in the Permian and the Bakken with total annual net production growth from these basins through 2025 could be as high as 750,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day.
2016 Performance Highlights
- Increased its dividend for 34 consecutive years through 2016
- The only major integrated oil company to significantly increase its dividend last year by 3.5 percent.
- Recently completed its acquisition of InterOil to expand its acreage in Papua New Guinea and doubled its resource base in the Permian basin through another purchase.
- Generated more than $26 billion of cash flow from operations and asset sales in 2016 including $4.3 billion from asset sales