Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), the world’s largest publicly traded oil producer, made efforts to reassure anxious investors on Wednesday, March 1, about its growth potential.
The oil producer highlighted both short- and long-term projects executives said should continue to help fund the 106-year-old dividend.
The pitch comes as Exxon has lagged peers, including Chevron Corp (CVX.N), in the minds of Wall Street analysts concerned about the company’s ability to replace its oil and gas reserves, a key harbinger of future profitability.
Last year, for the second year in a row, the Texas-based company failed to replace 100 percent of its oil and gas reserves with new projects.
Seeking to soothe analysts’ concerns, the company touted short-term projects in North Dakota and Texas, while also pointing to larger endeavors in Russia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Angola and Canada slated to come online later this year.
Combined, all growth projects should boost the company’s production to between 4 million and 4.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020, Exxon said.
It was the first meeting with Wall Street analysts for Woods since he assumed the CEO position in January from Rex Tillerson, now the U.S. secretary of state.
The company said in January it would spend $22 billion this year, a roughly 16 percent increase from 2016 levels.Exxon pumped 4.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2016.
The boost, Exxon said at the time, was not due to rising costs but increased business activity. Shares of Exxon rose 0.7 percent to $81.90 in premarket trading, Reuters reports.
