ExxonMobil To Boost Capacity In 2014 As 10 Major Projects To Start Production

(RTTNews) - Oil and natural gas giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) said Wednesday that it is looking to add new significant in 2014 through the start of production at a record 10 major projects this year. The company also cut capital spending for 2014 and for the next several years after peaking in 2013.

The company's Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson revealed this at the annual investment analyst meeting at the NYSE earlier in the day.

The Irving, Texas-based world's largest energy company by market value, noted that it will add new capacity of 300,000 net oil equivalent barrels per day and contribute to profitable production growth by beginning production at a record 10 major projects in 2014.

"These projects exemplify our focus on maintaining a diversified portfolio and highlight our ability to grow profitable volumes. We are adding new volumes that improve our profitability mix with higher liquids and liquids linked natural gas volumes. We're also driving increased unit profitability through better fiscal terms and reducing low-margin barrel production," Tillerson stated.

The company said its objective is to deliver profitable growth by improving unit profitability, while maintaining disciplined capital allocation.

The company also announced a cut in capital spending to $39.8 billion for 2014, from a peak capital spending of $42.5 billion in 2013. The capital spending from 2015 to 2017 is expected to average less than $37 billion per year, excluding potential acquisitions.

The company noted that the new capacity will primarily come from the liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea, a large offshore oil and gas platform in Russia, a heavy oil expansion project in Canada, and deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico, all of which start production in 2014.

Over the next few years, ExxonMobil also projects additional project startups in countries such as Australia, Indonesia, Canada, Nigeria and the U.S., which are expected to add about 1 million net oil equivalent barrels per day by 2017.

The company is also pursuing more than 120 high-quality projects to develop about 24 billion oil equivalent barrels of oil and natural gas.

In Wednesday's regular trading session, XOM is currently trading at $94.52, down $2.00 or 2.07% on a volume of 3.17 million shares.