Exxon, Chevron Retreat From Big International Projects, Shift Focus On Oil Projects In Americas

The two largest US oil companies, Exxon Mobil Corp XOM and Chevron Corporation CVX, will reportedly pull back on big international oil projects and concentrate on a few assets in the U.S.
The giants plan to spend the majority of their annual budgets in the Americas this year, with Chevron saying it will inject 70% of the capital allocated for production into oil fields in the U.S., Argentina, and Canada.
Exxon says it will spend a similar portion of its budget, writes Wall Street Journal, in the Permian Basin of New Mexico and West Texas, Guyana, Brazil, and liquefied natural gas projects.
The move can also be due to European Union's new windfall tax on oil groups, as oil companies have reported record quarterly profits benefiting from high energy prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, leading to further calls to tax the sector.
"The cases of them going to new countries are few and far between," said Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. "It's a natural consequence of investors demanding higher returns. Companies are being more selective."
Exxon and Chevron say they have plans to expand into new businesses providing low-carbon technologies to other companies.
"The majors are quite well positioned to develop the new technologies like hydrogen, carbon capture, and other new things that will help the industry decarbonize," said Tatiana Mitrova, a research fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy.

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