Exxon may see biggest reserves reduction as slump persists

Chicago

EXXON Mobil Corp warned it may be facing the biggest reserves revision in its history as production sank to a seven-year low and profit slid amid a prolonged slump in energy markets.

About 3.6 billion barrels of reserves in the Canadian oil sands and the equivalent of another one billion barrels of oil in other North American fields may be in jeopardy if the average energy prices seen during the first nine months of 2016 persist, Exxon said on Friday. That would equate to 19 per cent of Exxon's reserves and would be the largest de-booking since the 1999 merger that created the company in its modern form.