Exxon Launches Sale Of Its Shale Properties In Texas

Exxon Mobil on Monday launched a sale of its oil and gas properties in the first major US shale field, a spokesperson confirmed, as part of a portfolio reshuffling to focus on more lucrative assets, Shariq Khan and Sabrina Valle reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: An ExxonMobil refinery in Baytown, Texas

The top US oil producer set a goal three years ago of raising $15 billion from asset sales and put several US and international assets on the market as energy prices have recovered from the pandemic-induced slump.

Exxon, which suffered a historic $22.4 billion loss in 2020, is selling assets in Asia, Africa, and Europe as it focuses on production ventures in Guyana, offshore Brazil, and the Permian Basin.

It will open a data room on Thursday for its Barnett Shale holdings that include 2,700 wells across about 182,000 acres in North Texas, home of the first horizontally drilled shale wells.

Exxon spokesperson Sarah Nordin confirmed the sale process. Production operations will continue normally during the marketing process, Nordin said. There has been no agreement reached on a sale and no buyer was identified, she said.

The producing properties are valued at between $400 million and $500 million, according to a person familiar with the matter. US gas prices are up 75% year to date, settling at $5.01 per million British thermal units (BTUs) on Monday.

Bids are due Dec. 21 and Exxon aims to close any sale in January. The properties' shale gas production has declined by half since 2016, to around 227 million cubic feet per day (mcfd) in the first half of this year, according to a marketing document seen by Reuters.

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