25 February 2012, Sweetcrude, HOUSTON – Exxon Mobil says it would be spending a record $37 billion annually in capital projects for the foreseeable future.
The Texas, United States-based company is the latest oil giant to unveil an eye-popping capital budget aimed at boosting production and reserves.
“The corporation anticipates an investment profile of about $37 billion per year for the next several years,” Exxon Mobil said in an annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Dow Jones reported. “The corporation’s financial strength enables it to make large, long-term capital expenditures.”
The figure is slightly above the record $36.8 billion the Texas-based oil major invested in 2011 and a jump from the $32.2 billion it spent in 2010.
The announcement marks the rebirth of a trend towards bigger spending by the oil majors that was interrupted by the financial crisis, which caused oil prices to tumble in 2008.
Rival Chevron said in December it plans to spend $32.7 billion in capital projects this year, 12% more than in 2011, while ConocoPhillips said its 2012 budget of $14.8 billion will be 11% higher than in 2011.
Exxon Mobil is the world’s largest publicly-traded oil company.
