ExxonMobil, which on 30 January reported lower-than-expected 4Q earnings due to a 1.8% year-on-year decline in production, will lose around 140,000 b/d of output as a result of the 10 January expiry of the Abu Dhabi onshore ADCO concession, in which Exxon had a 9.5% stake. The US major would not comment on whether it had submitted a bid for a renewed concession but says it plans to limit exposure to low-profit barrels. David Rosenthal, VP for Investor Relations says “while it was 140,000 b/d of production, unit profitability was down at the lower end of our profitable barrels.”
ADCO is now operated by state-owned ADNOC as it evaluates bids from 11 qualified companies. Mr Rosenthal declined to say if Exxon is interested in a renewal. (CONTINUED - 744 WORDS)
