Exxon Mobil Corporation continued to deliver industry-leading results in 2010 through an integrated and disciplined business approach, and remains well-positioned to meet growing long-term global energy and petrochemical demand, the company said on Wednesday in its annual presentation to investment analysts at the New York Stock Exchange.
“During challenging times for the global economy, ExxonMobil continues to invest at record levels to deliver energy needed to underpin economic recovery and growth,” said Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer. “Our integrated business model enables us to deliver strong results for shareholders by leveraging financial strength, rigorous management systems and operating synergies.”
Tillerson said that ExxonMobil expects global energy demand to increase by 35% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels, and demand for natural gas will make it the fastest growing major energy source. To meet that demand, ExxonMobil will continue to invest through the business cycle.
“We are executing a large inventory of high-quality projects,” said Tillerson. “Actual spending in a given year will vary depending on the pace and the progress of each project. We are anticipating an investment profile of approximately US$34 billion in 2011 and a range of $33 billion to $37 billion per year through the year 2015.”
The volume of oil and natural gas produced by ExxonMobil is expected to grow by between 3-4% in 2011 and by 4-5% per year, on average, between 2009 and 2014. In addition, normal field decline is expected to be about 3% per year, which is about half the typical rate, in part due to increasing levels of unconventional and long-plateau volumes.
Eleven major upstream project start-ups are planned between 2011 and 2013. In 2011, the company expects to deliver 120,000 net oil-equivalent barrels per day from 2010 project start-ups and anticipates adding almost 1.4 million net oil-equivalent barrels per day by 2016. Nearly 80% of the new production will be oil, much of which will contribute to long-plateau volumes.
In 2010, ExxonMobil reported earnings of $30.5 billion, an increase of 57%, excluding special items, over 2009, and generated cash flow of $51.7 billion. This provided the company with important flexibility to fund the development of new energy, and return $19.7 billion to shareholders through dividends and a share purchase programme. Over the past five years, dividends have increased by 53% and the share purchase programme was at a level more than double that of the company’s competitors.
ExxonMobil’s return on average capital employed, a key indicator of decision making and financial performance, was an 22% in 2010, more than four percentage points higher than its nearest competitor, the company said in a statement.
