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ExxonMobil Corporation said Thursday it has signed an agreement to sell North Texas natural gas assets to producer BKV Corporation for 750 million, as part of a larger measure of unwanted asset loss.
Exxon, the top U.S. oil producer, set a target of selling $ 15 billion in assets last December to pay off debt and focus on low-cost oil production three years ago. However, it has achieved almost half of its target as sales have stopped during the epidemic.
This year’s return to oil and gas prices has sparked renewed interest in its assets, senior vice president Neil Chapman told analysts in March.
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The sale of North Texas assets includes additional payments based on future gas prices, which allows the company to profit from rising fuel costs. The deal is expected to expire on June 30.
Liam Malone, president of Exxon Mobil Upstream, said: “We are focused on delivering the most competitive returns to our shareholders by creating opportunities with the lowest supply.”
Denver-based BKV is owned by Thai energy firm Bonpu PCL and is an area in North Texas where the first shale wells were successfully drilled to produce Barnett Shale’s largest natural gas.
Exxon is offering resources in Asia, Africa and Europe as it focuses on Guyana, offshore Brazil and the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico. It is marketing resources in Iraq, Chad, Nigeria, Canada and Arkansas and Ohio.
The company, which suffered a historic $ 22.4 billion loss in 2020, has used this year’s skyrocketing oil prices to pay off debt and increase shareholder payouts.
Exxon says it has removed Barnett Shell assets, managed by its partners XTO Energy Inc. and Barnett Gathering LLC, from its development plans in 2020.
Last year, it took 2.6 billion from asset sales, up from $ 1 billion in 2020. (Reporting by Ruhi Soni in Bangalore; Edited by Maju Samuel, Bernard Orr)