ExxonMobil NEWS

The energy giant ExxonMobil has got its West Coast Canada (WCC) LNG export terminal in Canada delisted from the environmental assessment process. WCC was expected to produce approximately 15 million tonnes per year of LNG. This withdrawal follows the go-ahead of Shell’s British Columbia project and ExxonMobil will now focus on LNG projects in Asia, the Middle East and United States.

Supermajor, ExxonMobil and its joint venture partner BHP have made a final investment decision (FID) on the development of the West Barracouta gas field, offshore Victoria, Australia. FEED work for the project has already been concluded and subsequently, contracts were awarded to Subsea 7 and OneSubsea. The project aims at boosting domestic gas supplies in Victoria. A report published by Australian Energy Market Operator dictates looming gas shortage in Victoria by 2022.

Qatar Petroleum has inked an agreement to buy ExxonMobil’s10% stakes in three blocks in Mozambique. The ExxonMobil affiliate currently owns 60% interest in the blocks. This is Qatar Petroleum’s first expedition into Mozambique’s offshore basins. ENH and Rosneft’s affiliates are the other stakeholders in the block, with each of them owning 20% interest.

ExxonMobil has raised the recoverable resource estimate for the Stabroek Block to more than 5 Bboe. Exxon's 10th discovery offshore Guyana pushed the resource estimate from the block. ExxonMobil’s senior VP said “We will continue to apply what we’ve learned to identify additional exploration prospects and potential future discoveries that will deliver significant value to Guyanese people, our partners and shareholders.” The Stabroek block is spread across 6.6 million acres.

Exxon’s Rotterdam refinery will undergo several key developments to meet the stringent quality standards in base stocks manufacturing. The upgrade will be the final step in support of the full stream production in 2019. The developments will include new lab facilities with state-of-the-art equipment, implementation of ExxonMobil’s proprietary Global BPIMS, and so on. The improvements are in line with ExxonMobil’s pledge towards product integrity and reliability at the Rotterdam refinery.

ExxonMobil has signed largest ever renewable power contract, says Bloomberg. It has signed a 12-year agreement with Denmark’s Orsted A/S and will buy 500 MW of wind and solar power in Permian Basin. Exxon has been accused and sued by investors for increasing the risk of global warming. After this, the company is shifting to clean energy for the regions where electricity demand is growing with the increase in oil production.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has agreed to set financial terms for Total’s long-awaited gas project in the country. The project is expected to double LNG exports from PNG. Papua LNG will supply gas for two new processing units at Exxon Mobil’s PNG LNG plant. Negotiations over how revenue would be shared still require more work.

Supermajor, ExxonMobil has been slammed with a new lawsuit by the New York Attorney General. The lawsuit alleges Exxon of misleading investors about its readiness to overcome the financial challenges posed by climate change to their business. The suit follows a three-year legal fight against Exxon. Spokesman for Exxon, referring to the allegations as baseless, said that the New York AG’s office is yet to find any evidence against Exxon.

BASF, world’s largest chemical producer, and ExxonMobil are conducting a full scale commercial demonstration of their jointly-developed solvent. The firms have chosen Imperial Oil’s Sarnia Refinery for this purpose. The amine-based solvent is aimed at fulfilling the stringent sulfur emission standards with greater efficiency. The solvent will allow refiners and gas processors to enhance capacity and reduce the operating costs involved with existing equipment.

Mozambique’s government informed that it has signed an oil exploration agreement with ExxonMobil and Rosneft. The energy regulator of Mozambique, National Petroleum Institute said that the government is planning to get into similar agreements with Sasol of South Africa and Itlay’s Eni. These energy firms will drill a minimum of 10 wells which is expected to lead to an investment of as much as $700 million.

ExxonMobil is strategizing according to the new global shipping fuel regulations to be effective from 2020. The energy major will plan on a multi-billion dollar investment in its Singapore refinery. It is Exxon’s chief petrochemical complex with a 592,000 bpd capacity. This move is in line with the IMO’s new rules to limit the sulphur content to 0.5% from present 3.5% in order to reduce pollution by ships worldwide.

The consortium operating the 250,000 bpd Sakhalin-1 project in Russia has agreed to pay Russian oil major, Rosneft $230 million to settle the production dispute out-of-court. Rosneft, in June, had dragged the consortium of ExxonMobil, ONGC Videsh Ltd, and SODECO to court. Rosneft was seeking $1.4 billion in damages, alleging "unjust enrichment and interest gained by using other people's money". OVL will pay $46 million as part of settlement money.

ExxonMobil began operating a new unit at the integrated Beaumont facility in Texas. The new unit will boost the production of ultra-low sulfur fuels by about 45,000 barrels per day. Exxon developed a proprietary catalyst system for the unit to remove sulfur and meet US Environmental Protection Agency specifications while reducing octane loss. The project is part of Exxon’s Growing the Gulf initiative.

Oil and Gas Climate Initiative was formed in 2014 to address the issues of climate change. Initially, members from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America formed the organization but now, the US companies- Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Occidental Petroleum will also be joining OGCI. Each new member will commit $100 million to $1 billion investment fund of OGCI whose purpose is to assist in development of emissions reduction technology.

US oil supermajor, ExxonMobil is all set to pour £500 million to upgrade Britain’s largest oil refinery and extend its facility. Almost a century-old Fawley refinery will see the addition of new oil processing units, enabling it to produce larger volumes of high-quality diesel. The upgradation is in line with Exxon’s growth plans to double earnings by 2025 with Fawley marked as a “strategic” site.

After BP, oil giant ExxonMobil has now entered into an agreement with the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. for the Alaska North Slope natural gas sale. The sale will be to a state-sanctioned corporation who wants to build a LNG project worth $34 billion, including 800-mile pipeline. Currently, Alaska Gasline is negotiating with ConocoPhillips for the same. These three oil majors are intended to be a part of this project.

Oil supermajor, Exxon Mobil is planning to set up a 1.2 million tonnes per year ethylene plant. The project also includes two polyethylene and two polypropylene lines, in China’s southern province of Guangdong. Exxon will begin working on the multi-billion dollar project from 2023. The US oil major is intending to cover the growing demand for chemical products in Chinese market.

The oil giant, ExxonMobil raised a concern regarding the blockade at Nigerian oil facilities by previous employees. According to the company, these actions have put the country’s crude oil production at risk. Exxon’s subsidiary, Mobil Producing Nigeria informed that the company’s production is almost 550,000 bpd and added that "continued denial of access to production facilities could impact the company's ability to safely continue production operations".