For all its high profile and standout status in the global oil and gas industry, ExxonMobil, which is currently focused on kicking off a major oil recovery exercise offshore Guyana, has had to face its own ‘demons’ in 2018, according to a report late in December by World Oil, the monthly oil and gas publication published by Gulf Energy Information.
On Boxing Day, World Oil reported that ExxonMobil was “headed for its worst annual performance since 1981,” its dip in fortunes coming as the company pursues “a seven-year, (US)$200 billion push for oil in South America” including its mission to realise ‘first oil’ for Guyana.
World Oil’s assessment of ExxonMobil’s immediate circumstances, however, does little to disguise the substantive strength of the company which it describes as having “one of corporate America’s strongest balance sheets,” though it asserts that the company is likely to have to face searching questions from its investors “at a time when oil prices are plummeting.”