Exxon Posts Best Reserve Replacement in Decade on Price Gain

Exxon Mobil Corp. replaced three times its annual production in 2018, the best performance in at least a decade, continuing a bounce back from the deepest reserve cut in its modern history in 2016.

Key additions from the Permian Basin and Canadian oil sands, lifted by higher oil prices, offset a major subtraction from the slow closure of Europe’s biggest gas field in the Netherlands, Irving, Texas-based Exxon said Tuesday in a statement.

Exxon was forced to slash its reserves in 2016 as a result of the oil-price crash over the previous year. But the oil giant has since boosted its estimate of in-the-ground oil that’s profitable to produce due to discoveries in Guyana, acquisitions in Brazil and technological developments in U.S. shale.

Key Takeaways

Exxon added 4.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, bringing its total to 24.3 billion barrels, the oil major said in statement on Tuesday. Some 3.6 billion barrels were added as a result of higher prices, including reserves at the Kearl oil sands asset in Canada. Additions from the Permian and other shale plays added 1.2 billion barrels. Exxon has been struggling to arrest production declines over the past two years after a series of strategic mistakes over the past decade.Market Reaction

Exxon pared gains and was up 0.2 percent at $78.66 at close of trading in New York after earlier trading 0.8 percent higher.