Exxon looking for US shale buyers: press
US super-major Exxon Mobil is looking for buyers for its shale assets in Arkansas, the Reuters news service reported on August 11.
Reuters reported that Exxon’s shale unit, XTO Energy, is looking to sell off around 5,000 natural gas wells in the Fayetteville shale play.
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"We are providing information to third parties that may have an interest in the assets," spokesperson Julie King told the news service.
Exxon holds around 416,000 net acres in Fayetteville. Reuters added that Dallas-based Merit Energy may be among the interested parties. The company in 2018 spent $300mn to acquire acreage in the Fayetteville shale play from BHP.
Arkansas itself is a minor natural gas producer, accounting for about 1% of total US reserves and 1% of total production.
Exxon has focused more on new-found reserves offshore Guyana and in Brazil. In the domestic market, it remains a player in the Permian shale basin. Second quarter production in the Permian averaged 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent/d, an increase of 34% from the same period in 2020.
At $588mn, corporate and finance costs for Exxon were about two thirds less than last year's $872mn as financing costs and taxes were lower.