The investment, announced at the 25th NOG Energy Week Conference and Exhibition on 8 July, marks ExxonMobil’s return to drilling operations in Nigeria after nearly a decade, with its last drilling campaign in the country conducted in 2016. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), described the announcement as a significant development for the country’s upstream oil sector, noting that Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria, an ExxonMobil affiliate, had not drilled in Nigeria since that campaign.

The project falls within Oil Mining Lease 138 and involves on-block operations at the Usan field, which Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria operates under a production sharing contract alongside the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, with Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Nexen, a subsidiary of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, as co-venture partners.

The Usan field was discovered in 2002 and developed in water depths of 2,400 feet using a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel and 42 subsea wells, comprising 23 production wells and 19 water and gas injection wells connected to a two-million-barrel-capacity FPSO. First oil was produced in February 2012, when the field had a gross production capacity of up to 180,000 barrels per day.

The investment comes as Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest crude producers and an OPEC member, seeks to reverse years of declining output through regulatory reform and renewed investment. The African country has faced persistent challenges, including oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and underinvestment, prompting the government to accelerate project approvals and encourage fresh capital inflows into the sector.

In a separate development, the NUPRC issued petroleum prospecting licenses to successful applicants from the 2022/2023 Mini Bid Round and the 2024 Nigeria Licensing Round. A total of 12 companies received 19 licenses covering deep offshore, shallow water, and continental shelf areas, with Broron Energy, Petroli Energy Marketing and Supply, Sahara Deepwater Resources, and Tulcan Energy among those receiving awards, underscoring the breadth of opportunities on offer in Nigeria’s licensing rounds.

Apart from its big-ticket investment in Nigeria, Exxon, in partnership with QatarEnergy, has entered Cyprus as well through a deal signed with the Mediterranean country’s government. Prospects of two offshore gas fields have been declared marketable, a milestone in efforts by the ‌East Mediterranean island to develop its energy reserves.

The “Declaration of Marketability” signed in Nicosia has advanced a project central to the region’s ambitions to supply more gas to Europe.

ExxonMobil has reported discoveries in two offshore blocks in fields known as Glaucus and ⁠Pegasus. As per the company and the Cypriot officials, the combined discoveries could be between eight and nine trillion cubic feet.

The “Declaration of Marketability,” according to the Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, “represents a major step towards establishing the Eastern Mediterranean as a credible alternative energy corridor for Europe.”

“Some additional drilling on the two offshore fields would be required before moving into the front-end engineering and ‌design (FEED),” the administration added further.

“A final investment decision is anticipated around 2029 and production in 2033,” remarked ExxonMobil Vice President and head of global expansion John Ardill.

QatarEnergy signed a preliminary deal with ExxonMobil and Egypt’s government in May 2026 to study ⁠the development and commercialization of gas discoveries in Cyprus using Egypt’s existing gas and LNG infrastructure.

“The reserves from Pegasus and Glaucus would probably be ⁠delivered with a pipeline tie-back to Egypt,” Ardill concluded.

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According to Zawya Projects, in October 2025, the energy major accepted an offer from Switzerland-based commodity trader Gunvor Group to buy its international subsidiary.

Lukoil, which has come under Uncle Sam’s hammer as the Donald Trump administration eyes punishing Moscow for its Ukraine invasion, participates in projects in Iraq, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Mexico, the UAE and the Republic of the Congo.

Lukoil holds a 75% stake in the West Qurna 2 oilfield, while the rest is controlled by the state-owned South Oil Company. Reacting to the latest development, an Iraqi official told the Aliqtisad news, “Should Lukoil quit the field and production be halted, this will deprive Iraq’s crude oil exports from 450,000-500,000 bpd.”

A well-known Iraqi analyst close to the government said reports that Lukoil has declared force majeure in its operations in south Iraq show that the Western sanctions are working and that such a declaration is a “big geopolitical triumph” for the US-led bloc against Moscow.

“I believe Lukoil’s move will open new opportunities for such Western companies as ExxonMobil, BP and TotalEnergies to bolster their presence in Iraq. The road now appears clear for any arrangement between Iraq and Western companies, which are gradually returning to Iraq…I see a good chance for ExxonMobil in West Qurna 2 given its long experience in the nearby West Qurna 1,” said Nabil Al-Marsouimi, an author of several books on Iraq’s energy sector and economy, while interacting with the Zawya Projects.

In early 2024, ExxonMobil quit West Qurna 1 and handed its operations to PetroChina as the lead contractor as part of a plan to phase out its presence in Iraq for security and contractual reasons, including unattractive project terms offered by Baghdad. The American company is set to return to Iraq after it signed a head of agreement (HOA) with Baghdad in October 2025 for the development of the southern Majnoon oilfield, one of the world’s largest single crude reservoirs.

“Iraq needs to find a new foreign partner in West Qurna 2 because Lukoil’s stake is too large for the government to afford,” said Walid Khaddouri, an Iraqi energy expert and former information chief at the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC).

As per Reuters, ExxonMobil is studying a potential bid for West Qurna 2, while Iraqi sources, quoted by Al-Iqtisad news, said they expected Chinese companies to join the race for that field given their strong presence in the country after they won most of the contracts awarded within Iraq’s oil concession licensing rounds in 2024.

The sources reportedly believed that PetroChina is a strong candidate to take over Lukoil’s operations in West Qurna 2 since it operates the nearby Qurna 1. Iraq, however, has expressed its anger over Lukoil’s decision to declare force majeure in its Qurna operations, describing the move “illegal.”

“The declaration is against the law because it is unilateral…the Iraqi oil ministry has not made a similar declaration, although it is party to the agreement with Lukoil. An Iraqi oil company could handle production at Qurna field in case of Lukoil withdrawal for now…another solution is that the field could be handed over to one of the foreign companies already operating in Iraq,” said Ali Al-Shatri, director general of the state oil marketing organisation (SOMO).

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The platform is located 322 kilometres south of Galveston. It is a joint venture between three oil giants Shell, BP and Chevron.

Earlier this month, Shell temporarily suspended oil production after a leak was discovered on Exxon’s Hoover Offshore Oil Pipeline System. With that, the deepwater Perdido platform is shut, media reports said.

ExxonMobil spokesperson told the media, “We anticipate resuming flow on the line in a timely manner once it is safe to do so.” The Hoover Offshore Oil Pipeline carries oil from offshore oilfields to the Quintana Terminal near Freeport, Texas, according to the Exxon website.

Currently, Exxon’s Hoover Offshore Oil Pipeline System is shut for repair.  Recently, Shell pulled out from a deal established with Gazprom Neft, an oil subsidiary of Gazprom, media reports said. Under the terms of the deal, both companies were to jointly develop resources of five fields and licence blocks in the Yamal-Nenets region.

It was, in fact, noted to be a landmark deal for Shell and Gazprom Neft. With the split, Gazprom Neft will independently develop the licence blocks based on the previously approved work plan, media reports said. It is reported that the project’s initial investment was worth €1.6 billion and production to reach 10 million tonnes of oil equivalents. Production in the first field was slated for by the end of 2020.

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Previously, the two parties had agreed to carry out work in the rig unit January 2022. It is reported that the deal was mutually agreed by Dubai Petroleum and Shelf Drilling. Now Shelf Drilling has agreed to amend the contract end date for the jackup Shelf Drilling Tenacious , media reports said.

The contract was started in early 2018 in the Middle East. However, Dubai Petroleum and Shelf Drilling are not the only two companies to terminate the contract early.

Last month, Shelf Drilling said its Trident XIV jack-up rig customer ExxonMobil seeks to shorten the contract. The rig is located off Nigeria.

In this context, even Qatar Petroleum is delaying work of North Field LNG expansion on the back of the Cover-19 pandemic. The North Field project was first announced In September 2018. The project will see Qatar Petroleum increase production to 110 mt/year from 77.5 mt/yr through the construction of four trains.

These trains will be purchased online in intervals, media reports said. The phase one of the project has been delayed because of the pandemic. Also, the bidding process is hindered for potential partners. It is reported that the onshore facilities will receive nearly 6.4 Bcf/d of gas from the southern sector of the North Field.

As of last September, Qatar’s crude oil reserves and natural gas amounted to 171 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

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However, the Aramco prospectus, which is more than 600 pages long, did not reveal the number of the shares which will be made available to institutional investors. According to local media reports, there are currently 200 billion shares in existence with Saudi Aramco.

Saudi Aramco has issued the prospectus for its IPO on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). Reportedly, the company will sell around 1 percent or 2 percent of its shares on the Tadawul.

Aramco, which is the world’s most profitable company, revealed that the IPO will start on November 17 and close on December 4, 2019. A final offer price, as well as the number and percentage of company shares that will be sold, will be determined at the end of that period.

The Aramco prospectus revealed that individual investors will have time till November 28 to apply for shares on the Tadawul. It also revealed that Aramco has a lower gearing ratio than each of the Five Major IOCs comprising ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, Total and BP.

Even though Aramco decides to sell less than 2 percent of its shares, reportedly, it will still be the world’s biggest share sale, eclipsing the $25 billion which Alibaba raised in its IPO in 2014. Aramco’s initial plan was to sell 5 percent of its shares on the Tadawul and raise around $100 billion.

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Brazil’s state-owned Petrobras acquired 90 percent of the Buzios oil fields, which is the largest among the four up for auction. The remaining 10 percent was acquired by Chinese firms CNOOC and CNODC.

The second oil field -Itapu, only received an offer from Petrobras, whereas, the other two oil fields namely – Sepia and Atapu, did not receive any offer at all. The two blocks are expected to be auctioned again next year.

Despite the oil auction being a disappointment and not attracting foreign investment as it was earlier anticipated, Decio Oddone, head of the National Petroleum Agency in Brazil termed the auction as a success and described the sale as the biggest ever achieved in the world.

The Brazil Oil Institute, in a statement, said, “The fact that two blocks were not auctioned does not reduce the importance of the result of this event. This is the first auction of its kind offering large volumes already discovered, which reduces risk.”

Prior to the auction, around a dozen major oil firms around the world were expected to bid for the oil fields in Brazil which contain as much as 15 billion barrels of oil. Some notable names that were expected to bid are ExxonMobil, BP, Total and Royal Dutch Shell.

According to reports, a hefty signing fee demanded by authorities in Brazil might be the reason why many oil giants chose not to bid for the oil blocks.

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The decision to divest the company was taken on September 30 last month.

The BPCL stake sale is expected to raise around Rs 60,000 crore. Besides Aramco, the companies which that are expected to take part in the BPCL stake sale are Rosneft, Kuwait Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Shell, Total and Adnoc.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is expected to hire an adviser by November. The valuation is also expected to be completed in the next 50 days.

The bidding process for the appointment of potential advisers is scheduled to open on November 4, 2019.

With regard to potential bidders, Vidyadhar Ginde, an analyst at ICICI Securities told the media, “Rosneft, which bought Essar Oil, and BP, which announced a 49 percent stake in oil marketing joint venture with RIL, is likely to bid. Kuwait Petroleum, Total, ExxonMobil, Shell and ADNOC may also bid for BPCL.”

This is not the first time the Indian government attempted to privatise BPCL. An earlier attempt was made in 2003; however, it was rejected by the Supreme Court.

Last week, local media reported that Aramco will announce its interest in BPCL during the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia at the end of the month.

Recently, Aramco delayed the listing of its shares in the stock exchange, yet again. The IPO, which is expected to be the world’s biggest, is now expected to happen in December or January.

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The announcement came right after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved the project’s air quality permit. According to Houston Business Journal, the project now has the final environmental regulatory approval to construct a 1.8 million metric tonne ethane steam cracker, two polyethylene units and a monoethylene glycol unit.

Reports said that the project will cost approximately $10 billion.

Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil said that the project is one of the many ‘key projects’ that contribute to ExxonMobil’s ‘earnings potential’. “Building the world’s largest steam cracker, with state-of-the-art technology, on the doorstep of rapidly growing Permian production gives this project significant scale and feedstock advantages,” he added.

In the manufacturing process, the plant will convert natural gas to ethylene to manufacture plastic bottles, containers and polyester clothing.

With the project construction, 6,000 new jobs will be created. Impact DataSource conducted a preliminary study which estimated that the project will generate more than $22 billion in economic output around that time.

Once the facility is up and running, more than 600 permanent jobs will be created with an average of $90,000 per year. And during the first six years of the operation will generate economic benefits of $50 billion as per Impact DataSource estimates.

ExxonMobil and SABIC have a strong presence in Houston.

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The commitment was made as part of wider efforts by the global energy industry to ensure that natural gas continues to play a critical role in helping meet future energy demand while addressing climate change. Since natural gas consists mainly of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, its role in the transition to a low-carbon future will be influenced by the extent to which methane emissions are reduced.

The eight energy companies signed a Guiding Principles document, which focuses on: continually reducing methane emissions; advancing strong performance across gas value chains; improving accuracy of methane emissions data; advocating sound policies and regulations on methane emissions; and increasing transparency.

“Numerous studies have shown the importance of quickly reducing methane emissions if we’re to meet growing energy demand and multiple environmental goals,” said Mark Radka, Head of UN Environment’s Energy and Climate Branch. “The Guiding Principles provide an excellent framework for doing so across the entire natural gas value chain, particularly if they’re linked to reporting on the emissions reductions achieved.”

The Guiding Principles were developed in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Gas Union, the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative Climate Investments, the Rocky Mountain Institute, the Sustainable Gas Institute, The Energy and Resources Institute, and United Nations Environment.

“Our analysis at IEA shows that credible action to minimise methane emissions is essential to the achievement of global climate goals, and to the outlook for natural gas,” said Tim Gould, Head of Supply Division, World Energy Outlook, IEA. “The commitment by companies to the Guiding Principles is a very important step; we look forward to seeing the results of their implementation and wider application. The opportunity is considerable – implementing all of the cost-effective methane abatement measures worldwide would have the same effect on long-term climate change as closing all existing coal-fired power plants in China.”

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“Our first challenge during the initial research was to determine technical feasibility and potential environmental benefits,” said Vijay Swarup, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company. “We’re optimistic as the results indicate good potential for advancing the technology, and we look forward to continuing our work with REG Life Sciences.”

During their initial research, the companies successfully validated the feasibility of the REG Life Sciences fermentation technology across multiple cellulosic sugar compositions produced with a variety of methods from various non-edible biomass sources. The research also confirmed REG Life Sciences technology is capable of achieving substantial reductions of full-lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional diesel fuel.

ExxonMobil signed an agreement with REG in January 2016 to study the production of biodiesel through fermentation of renewable cellulosic sugars from sources such as agricultural waste. The companies have agreed to extend the research program based on their positive findings and are excited to continue to jointly explore the technology’s potential for scalability.

“Biofuels today are made largely from food sources, such as corn and sugar cane,” said Swarup. “ExxonMobil is challenging that paradigm by exploring a portfolio of large-scale biofuels solutions that do not compete with food and water. Our work with REG Life Sciences has been critical to better understanding the potential for converting cellulosic feedstock from agricultural waste into a commercially viable diesel fuel, as well as the lifecycle greenhouse gas implications of that process.”

REG Life Sciences has developed proprietary technology that relies on microbes to convert cellulosic sugars into biodiesel in a one-step fermentation process. Cellulosic feedstocks derived from agricultural waste, contain multiple types of sugars, including glucose and xylose, as well as impurities that can inhibit the fermentation process.

“ExxonMobil has been a great partner and we are proud of what we have accomplished to date,” said Eric Bowen, vice president of REG Life Sciences. “The Life Sciences team, led by Fernando Sanchez-Riera, senior director, Fermentation Process Development, made key discoveries in advancing the commercialization of fermenting diverse cellulosic sugars into renewable, clean burning diesel fuel. We are excited to take these discoveries to the next level. We believe our REG Life Sciences technology holds great potential as an innovation platform across multiple industries and can think of no partner better than ExxonMobil to help us realize that potential in fuels.”

A breakthrough in cellulosic biodiesel production could have broad implications for the transportation sector. Global demand for transportation-related energy is projected to increase by about 25 percent through 2040, and accelerating the reduction in emissions from the transportation sector through technologies like biodiesel will play a critical role in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

ExxonMobil is also actively researching other emission-reducing technologies, including algae biofuels and carbon capture and sequestration. In June 2017, ExxonMobil and partner Synthetic Genomics, Inc. announced a breakthrough in joint research into advanced biofuels involving the modification of an algae strain that more than doubled its oil content without significantly inhibiting the strain’s growth.

In 2016, ExxonMobil announced its partnership with Connecticut-based FuelCell Energy, Inc. to advance the use of carbonate fuel cells to economically capture carbon emissions from natural gas power plants while generating hydrogen and additional electricity. Since 2000, ExxonMobil has spent about $8 billion to develop and deploy lower-emission energy solutions across its operations.

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