He added that Mr. Woods was taking over a “formidable competitor” with the good fortune to
have a powerful combination of “high-quality rocks, technology and management depth.”
Though Exxon has yet to hint at it, some energy experts are predicting
that the company still has enough cash and borrowing ability to take part in the initial public offering for a piece of Saudi Aramco, the state oil company, as a way to garner a large dividend stream and perhaps even acquire new production possibilities
That should help the company substantially increase reserves,
and stabilize and potentially increase daily production of oil and natural gas to as much as 4.4 million barrels by 2020 from just over four million barrels now.
The company has also announced the discovery of a large oil field off the shores of Nigeria, started drilling in Liberia, increased investments in gas production
and exports in Papua New Guinea and expanded refineries in Singapore and the Netherlands.
Before leaving for the State Department, Mr. Tillerson negotiated the acquisition of a giant field in the Permian Basin, which straddles West Texas and New Mexico,
that should add more than three billion barrels of accessible reserves to Exxon Mobil’s inventory.
“We continue to expect to see volatility in the markets.”
The company’s recent faltering fortunes were underscored last month by its removal of several billion barrels of Canadian oil sands from its books, an acknowledgment
that the resource cannot be profitably produced anywhere near today’s commodity prices for the foreseeable future.
Even with the partial recovery of oil prices in recent months, Mr. Woods suggested
that many unpredictable market factors could take commodity prices higher or lower.
