Exxon is planning to boost its oil production regardless of where international oil prices are heading. This comes from a senior company executive who spoke to Semafor this week. It also likely reflects the sentiment across the supermajor segment of the energy industry. After all, that’s what the consolidation drive was all about.

Exxon announced its plan to take over one of the biggest operators in the shale patch, Pioneer Natural Resources, in late 2023. The value of the deal was calculated at $59.5 billion. At the time, Exxon said the deal would result in combined resources of an impressive 16 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the Permian—and that it had every intention to exploit these resources. From 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent daily in 2023, the supermajor saw its Permian output in 2030 reaching 2 million barrels daily. Prices were not mentioned as a factor in production decisions at all. Now, per that executive who spoke to Semafor, the 2030 production target has been raised to 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent daily.

“We believe our operating costs are the lowest in the industry, which means we get more out of each barrel we produce,” Bart Cahir, senior vice president for upstream in the unconventional segment, told the publication. “That gives us tremendous resilience when you get into softer parts of the commodity cycle.”

Source: Oilprice