据美国彭博社新闻社12月17日休斯敦报道，埃克森美孚公司已经超越其众多竞争对手，成为了二叠纪盆地最活跃的钻井公司，这表明这家全球市值最大的石油公司正在寻求美国的页岩油气储量。
根据RigData公司提供给彭博新闻社情报资料部门的统计资料，即使在西德克萨斯州和新墨西哥州地区的缓慢起步以后，埃克森美孚公司现在在用的钻机总数超过了Concho资源公司，后者在今年早些时候与RSP石油公司合并创建了最大的专注于二叠纪的勘探公司之一。
这不难看出为什么二叠纪盆地会变得对埃克森美孚公司如此重要。一系列战略失误导致这家石油巨头的整体产量在今年年中跌至10年来低点。在全球首屈一指的页岩田二叠纪盆地钻井只需数月就能产出低成本石油，而大型项目开始生产原油需要数年时间。
彭博社情报资料部门驻纽约分析师费尔南多•瓦尔表示：“埃克森美孚公司需要恢复产量和回报率，而二叠纪盆地是增产最快的地区。”
在多年寻求海外资源后，埃克森美孚公司并不是唯一一家开发美国页岩油气的大公司。其竞争对手雪佛龙公司的资本预算中，国内支出将达到至少10年来的最高水平。二叠纪盆地目前占雪佛龙公司总产量的10%左右。英国石油公司今年同意斥资105亿美元收购澳大利亚矿业巨头必和必拓公司在美国的页岩资产，以获得进入二叠纪盆地的机会。
李峻 编译自 彭博新闻社
原文如下：
Exxon becomes Permian drill chief to combat falling oil output
Exxon Mobil Corp. has overtaken rivals to become the most active driller in the Permian Basin, showing the urgency with which the world’s biggest oil company by market value is pursuing U.S. shale.
Even after a slow start in the region of West Texas and New Mexico, Exxon is now operating more drilling rigs than Concho Resources Inc., which merged with RSP Permian Inc. earlier this year to create It’s not hard to see why the Permian has become so important to Exxon. A series of strategic mistakes sent the oil giant’s overall production careening to a 10-year low by the middle of this year. Drilling wells in the Permian, the world’s premier shale field, yields low-cost oil in months rather than the years required for megaprojects to begin producing crude.
“They need to get the production and returns back up, and the Permian is where you can ramp up the fastest,” said Fernando Valle, a New York-based analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Exxon isn’t alone in tapping U.S. shale after years of pursuing overseas resources. Rival Chevron Corp. will spend the highest portion of its capital budget at home in at least a decade. The Permian now accounts for about 10% of Chevron’s overall production. BP Plc this year agreed to spend $10.5 billion
