In this April 23, 2018, file photo, the logo for ExxonMobil appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. ExxonMobil is selling most of its upstream assets in the United Kingdom central and northern North Sea to HitecVision for more than $1 billion. Neil Chapman, senior vice president of ExxonMobil, said in a statement Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, that the company is selling assets that are “less strategic” and concentrating on development plans that prioritize Guyana, the U.S. Permian Basin, Brazil and liquefied natural gas. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
ExxonMobil is selling most of its drilling and exploration assets off the coast of the U.K. in the North Sea for more than $1 billion.
Exxon has heightened its focus on other oil rich regions, including the Permian Basin in the Southwest United States.
The sale includes ExxonMobil’s interests in 14 producing fields in the North Sea. The fields are run primarily by Shell, including Penguins, Starling, Fram, the Gannet Cluster and Shearwater. Total operated others. ExxonMobil’s share of production from these fields was approximately 38,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day in 2019.
The sale by Exxon of its North Sea assets first arose in 2019, and the selling price was estimated to be around twice the announced number Wednesday.
Oil prices plunged last year as the pandemic ground almost all travel, by road, rail or air, to a halt. Prices have rallied since last spring and are up 30% this year, but remain muted.
The Texas oil giant, which has operated in the U.K. for more than 135 years, will maintain extensive refining, petrochemicals production and the natural gas operations in the U.K. It will also keep its non-operated share in production and exploration assets in the southern North Sea.
Neil Chapman, senior vice president of ExxonMobil, said in a prepared statement Wednesday that the company is selling assets that are “less strategic" to better concentrate on major operations in Guyana, Brazil, and the United States.
The deal is expected to close by the middle of the year.
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7 Stocks to Support Your New Year’s ResolutionsAfter a year like 2020, many Americans figure that just getting to 2021 was enough. But for many people, the start of a new year still means making resolutions. And while many Americans are still waking up to Groundhog’s Day, there is hope that things will look dramatically different in September than they do right now.
Some of the most popular resolutions include losing weight, exercising more, or taking steps to get our life and/or business more organized. And many pure-play companies lean into these trends and are doing well.
As an alternative to this, you can also invest in companies that are not pure plays but can still benefit from consumers looking to start fresh. Owning these stocks helps you manage your risk. If the trend holds, you can ride the wave. On the other hand, if the wave turns into a ripple, the stocks have other catalysts to get them through.
In this special presentation, we’ll take a look at both of these categories. We’ve got several pure-play companies that let investors buy stocks in companies benefiting from these trends. We’ll also give you a few stocks that fall in the latter category.
These are stocks that you might buy at any time and for many reasons. However, they present excellent buys as the new year begins.
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