Exxon Mobil’s 2015 oil, gas reserve additions replace 67% of production

Over past 10 years, Exxon Mobil has replaced 115% of the reserves it produced, including impact of asset sales

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) added over one billion oil-equivalent barrels of proved oil and gas reserves in 2015, replacing 67 per cent of production, the company announced Friday.

The figures included a 219 per cent replacement ratio for crude oil and other liquids. At year-end, ExxonMobil’s proved reserves totaled 24.8 billion oil-equivalent barrels. Liquids represented 59 per cent of proved reserves, up from 54 per cent in 2014. Exxon Mobil’s reserves life at current production rates is 16 years.

Reserves were added in Abu Dhabi, Canada, Kazakhstan and Angola. Liquid additions during 2015 totaled 1.9 billion barrels. Natural gas proved reserves were reduced by 834 million oil-equivalent barrels primarily in the United States reflecting the change in natural gas prices. The company expects this gas to be developed and booked as proved reserves in the future.

“Exxon Mobil has a successful track record of proved reserves replacement over the long term, demonstrating the strength of our global strategy to identify, evaluate, capture and advance high-quality opportunities,” said Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and CEO.

Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation

“Our proved reserves represent a diverse portfolio that positions us to create shareholder value as we supply long-term energy demand growth. We will continue to apply our disciplined, paced investing approach as we develop our industry-leading resource base.”

Reserves additions in 2015 reflect new developments as well as revisions and extensions of existing fields resulting from drilling, studies and analysis of reservoir performance. Consistent with SEC requirements, Exxon Mobil says it reports reserves based on the historic average market prices on the first day of each calendar month during the year.

Resource Base

During 2015, Exxon Mobil added 1.4 billion oil-equivalent barrels to its resource base through by-the-bit exploration discoveries, undeveloped resource additions and strategic acquisitions.

Exxon Mobil’s by-the-bit exploration success in 2015 included a significant oil discovery offshore Guyana and additional discoveries in Iraq, Australia, Romania and Nigeria. Strategic unconventional resource additions were made in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Canada and Argentina.

Overall, the corporation’s resource base totaled more than 91 billion oil-equivalent barrels at year-end 2015, taking into account field revisions, production and asset sales. The resource base includes proved reserves, plus other discovered resources that are expected to be ultimately recovered.

Exxon Mobil says its proved reserve figures are based on current SEC definitions. Reserves also include oil sands and equity company reserves for all periods, which were excluded from SEC reserves prior to 2009. The reserves replacement ratio is calculated for a specified period utilizing the applicable proved oil-equivalent reserves additions divided by oil-equivalent production.