Chuks Isiwu 24 February 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria, and rival Angola helped US oil giant, ExxonMobil, add 1.4 billion oil-equivalent barrels to its resource base in 2015, the company has said.
According to a news wire from ExxonMobil’s corporate headquarters in Irving, Texas, United States, obtained by SweetcrudeReports, the company also achieved one billion oil-equivalent barrels in reserves during the year.
At year-end 2015, its proved reserves totaled 24.8 billion oil-equivalent barrels. Liquids represented 59 percent of proved reserves, up from 54 percent in 2014, the company said, adding that its reserves life, at current production rates, is 16 years.
In 2015, reserves were added in Abu Dhabi, Canada, Kazakhstan and Angola. Liquid additions during 2015 totaled 1.9 billion barrels, the company stated.
During the year, ExxonMobil also added 1.4 billion oil-equivalent barrels to its resource base through by-the-bit exploration discoveries, undeveloped resource additions and strategic acquisitions.
The company said the by-the-bit exploration success in 2015 included a significant oil discovery offshore Guyana and additional discoveries in Nigeria, Iraq, Australia, and Romania. Strategic unconventional resource additions were made in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Canada and Argentina.
Overall, the corporation’s resource base totaled more than 91 billion oil-equivalent barrels at year-end 2015, taking into account field revisions, production and asset sales. The resource base includes proved reserves, plus other discovered resources that are expected to be ultimately recovered.
Over the past 10 years, ExxonMobil has replaced 115 percent of the reserves it produced, including the impact of asset sales.
“ExxonMobil has a successful track record of proved reserves replacement over the long term, demonstrating the strength of our global strategy to identify, evaluate, capture and advance high-quality opportunities,” said Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer.
He added: “Our proved reserves represent a diverse portfolio that positions us to create shareholder value as we supply long-term energy demand growth. We will continue to apply our disciplined, paced investing approach as we develop our industry-leading resource base.”
He stated that reserves additions in 2015 reflected new developments as well as revisions and extensions of existing fields resulting from drilling, studies and analysis of reservoir performance.
The annual reporting of proved reserves is the product of the corporation’s long-standing, rigorous process that ensures consistency and management accountability in all reserves bookings.
Consistent with US Securities and Exchange Commission requirements, ExxonMobil reports reserves based on the historic average market prices on the first day of each calendar month during the year.