ExxonMobil (XOM) Finds Crude Offshore Equatorial Guinea

The energy ministry of Equatorial Guinea announced findings of crude by ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) in the offshore EG-06 block. The largest publicly-traded energy company is presently evaluating the commercial aspect of the crude discovery.

ExxonMobil, with an 80% interest, is the operator of the block. The remaining is owned by Equatorial Guinea’s government through national oil firm GEPetrol. Investors should know that ExxonMobil had entered into a production sharing accord for EG-06 Block in 2015.

The announcement primarily reflects ExxonMobil’s crude exploration initiatives in the prospective Equatorial Guinea resources. One major event was announced on Jun 5, when another production sharing deal was inked between the government and the energy giant for the deepwater block EG-11.

Such developments are expected to boost ExxonMobil’s crude production, helping it return more to shareholders.

Apart from focusing on its upstream businesses, ExxonMobil is taking care of its downstream operations as well. On Dec 1, the integrated energy player announced plans to combine its refining and marketing businesses. The merger will help ExxonMobil generate more cash from downstream activities, countering the volatility in its upstream activities.

Irving, TX-based ExxonMobil has a leading position in the energy industry owing to the size and diversity of its asset base, both in terms of business mix and geographical footprint. The company, belonging to the Zacks Oil International Integrated industry, has gained 1.3% quarter to date.

ExxonMobil sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Other prospective energy players are BP Plc (NYSE:BP) , China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (NYSE:SNP) and Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) . All the stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

BP is a leading integrated energy firm. The company managed to surpass the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters, with an average positive earnings surprise of 26.8%.

Headquartered in Beijing, China Petroleum is a leading integrated energy player. The company will likely witness year-over-year earnings growth of 59.1% in 2017.

Based in Minnetonka, MN, Northern Oil is an upstream energy player. The company’s 2017 revenues are estimated to grow almost 44%.

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