US oil company ExxonMobil is expected to leave Equatorial Guinea in 2026, after reducing production at the Zafiro well to 15,000 barrels per day.
“We are currently evaluating the best way to leave, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons”, confirmed a spokeswoman for ExxonMobil, after news from the specialized press that reported the complete exit from the country.
ExxonMobil reduced production in the Zafiro field from 45,000 to 15,000 barrels of oil per day, when water penetrated one of the production vessels, and analysts believe that this will be the first step for the oil company to completely abandon production in Equatorial Guinea the third largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, after Angola and Nigeria.
“It’s a very expensive region where carbon emissions are also a problem,” commented analyst Gail Anderson, from consultancy Wood Mackenzie to the financial information agency Bloomberg, giving account of the likelihood that Equatorial Guinea would lose a world-class oil operator.
The oil company also operates the Serpentina field, but the spokesperson declined to confirm whether production will be maintained or also terminated at this oil well.
The departure of ExxonMobil, if confirmed, is bad news not only for Equatorial Guinea, but also for the African continent, whose leaders have defended the need to continue to bet on fossil fuels to finance the energy transition in a more friendly model. environment and with less harmful emissions into the atmosphere.
