Houston — Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Darren Woods said on Thursday he aims to double the amount of oil produced from the company’s U.S. shale holdings over a five-year period using new technologies.
In December, the top U.S. oil producer postponed for two years, to 2027, a goal of pumping up to 1 million barrels per day in the Permian Basin, the top U.S. shale field, citing COVID-19 pandemic delays. It also introduced the five-year technology development program at the same time, Exxon said.
Exxon currently recovers about 10% of shale resources from its operations, he said.
A first wave of new shale technology could come by fracking along much longer lateral well segments, and better keeping the fracks open so more resources flow, he said.
In December, Exxon set a new goal to reach between 900,000 barrels per day and 1 million barrels per day in the Permian by 2027, with 9% to 11% production growth there this year.
Woods said developing technology in-house ultimately will allow Exxon to better identify acquisition targets.
“It is not a consolidated field yet,” Woods said, adding that the strategy creates “a bigger and bigger deal space.”
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