Exxon Mobil slashes capex budget by a quarter

Exxon Mobil announced it would slash its investment budget by a quarter in 2016 in order to ride out the current downdraft in the commodities cycle.

The US oil major said it retained the financial flexibility to pursue “attractive opportunities” and could adjust its budget for capital expenditures in reaction to changes in the fundamentals for market demand.

“We have the financial flexibility to pursue attractive opportunities and can adjust our investment program based on market demand fundamentals,” Exxon chief Rex W.Tillerson said in a statement released ahead of a meeting on Wednesday.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon said the outfit was continuing to “selectively advance” its investment portfolio and was focused on the fundamentals of the business and paying a reliable and growing dividend.

Exxon projected it would start up 10 new upstream projects in 2016 and 2017, which would add 450,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day of working-interest production capacity.

Since 2012, Exxon had started up 22 major upstream projects, adding over 940,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day of working interest production capacity.

Six of those project start-ups took place in 2015.

As of 14:26GMT shares in Exxon Mobil were 0.96% lower to $80.50 per barrel on the NYMEX.