NEWS

IRVING, Texas (Bloomberg) — In a world of $55/bbl oil, Exxon Mobil Corp. is relying on shale fields in Texas, Oklahoma and North Dakota to help fund the next wave of big overseas projects it needs to thrive in the future.

Exxon unveiled plans Wednesday to double the amount of oil it pumps from U.S. shale fields during the next three years, even as it moves more cautiously on investments in big projects elsewhere. Decades after quitting many U.S. fields to pursue bigger reserves from the Middle East to the North Sea, Exxon now sees its U.S. assets as its most reliable cash engines.

With its leading technology, expertise and market clout, the biggest U.S. oil producer has been able to reduce costs and improve efficiency in domestic shale fields it began acquiring in 2010. That progress, coming even as the price of crude has dropped, has allowed Exxon to generate “attractive returns,” said CEO Rex Tillerson.

“It might surprise some people how attractive some of these things are in this environment,” Tillerson told a gathering of investors in New York Wednesday. North American shale “is more resilient than some people think it is.”

Exxon expects its worldwide production of crude and natural gas to climb 7.5% to the equivalent of 4.3 MMbpd by the end of 2017, the Irving, Texas-based company said. The last time Exxon performed at that level was 2011.