Upstream

Unconventional

We have expertise in developing tight gas, shale gas and unconventional oil resources. 

We operate throughout the United States, from the Permian Basin to the Bakken to Appalachia. We hold more than 9.5 million acres, with a total resource base of approximately 18.5 billion oil equivalent barrels. We also provide operational support for unconventional resource development in Argentina.

ExxonMobil completes acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources

The merger of ExxonMobil and Pioneer creates an Unconventional business with the largest high-return development potential in the Permian Basin. The combined company’s more than 1.4 million net acres in the Delaware and Midland basins have an estimated 16 billion barrels of oil equivalent resource. Read the press release

Image ExxonMobil completes acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources

Permian

Nearly half of all U.S. oil and gas production comes from the Permian Basin. In 2023, we produced, on average 612,000 barrels a day in the Permian Basin, and we're aiming to produce 1 million barrels per day from our Permian assets by the end of 2027. 

Applying an innovative development approach at scale

Cube development enables us to drill multiple horizontal wells in stacked intervals from a single surface location. By applying this unique approach across our acreage, we can safely and efficiently bring online large sections of producing acreage in a shorter period of time, which maximizes recovery, reduces costs and minimizes the environmental footprint of our operations. This approach enables a development plan and return profile that is resilient across a wide range of prices and market scenarios.

Investing in integration

We have invested in infrastructure from New Mexico to the U.S. Gulf Coast to provide logistics flexibility and maximize the integrated value of our growing Permian production. We have advanced construction of gathering and processing facilities, including the Cowboy central delivery point in the Delaware Basin. Integration, including transportation and downstream investments, enables us to maximize our resource development through to fuels, lubes and chemicals production.

ExxonMobil Unconventional operates in the following areas of the United States:

Appalachia Basin – We operate in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Williston Basin – We operate in the Bakken formation in North Dakota.

Gulf Coast – We operate in the Haynesville shale formation in East Texas and Louisiana.

Oklahoma – We operate in the southern and southeastern Oklahoma in the Woodford shale formation.

Energy supply

Strengthening energy security and helping to advance the energy transition