quote:
“Uncertainty” is the word for the oil market today and a single 24-hour snapshot of the price of WTI is an illustration, an Exxon Mobil senior vice president said.

“We've had perhaps the shortest oil spike in the history of the oil markets,” Jack Williams said at a J.P. Morgan energy conference June 24.

“It started on a Sunday evening; ended by Monday morning.”

Williams said, “So I mean, I think it's really hard to predict near term where things are going to go. We have a lot of volatility out there.”

quote:
Exxon can weather sub-$70 WTI, though, he said. “We think we're well positioned and ready in that kind of environment."

And, of course, if prices improve “we'll benefit pretty hugely with the production we have going on.”

The $470-billion market cap, international and integrated energy major’s five-year plan is based on mid-cycle prices of about $65 Brent.

Still, at $55 Brent, “we generate $110 billion of surplus cash after dividends and capex,” Williams said.

“So we certainly can withstand lower pricing and that would be for an extended period of time over that entire period [into 2030].”

quote:
“We're, of course, keeping our head up and looking around for opportunities and we'll take advantage of those as they present themselves.”

The operator bought Permian Basin pureplay Pioneer Natural Resources in May 2024 for $64.5 billion in stock and debt assumption, picking up 721,000 boe/d, 53% oil.

Post-closing results have been surprising—to the upside—Williams said.

quote:
Meanwhile, though, digesting the Pioneer acquisition hasn’t “boxed us in at all in terms of having too much of the organizational firepower working on that.”

Exxon is “pretty wide open in terms of the ability to do … more acquisitions,” he added.

It’s looking for deals that are “one plus one equals three. We're looking for value. We have to be able to add significant value.”

Within the Permian Basin, there are small deals to be done too.

LINK

Wonder whose acreage positions and assets they'd be looking at domestically.