Exxon to spend $20 billion on projects in gulf

Exxon Mobil Corp. says it plans to spend $20 billion over 10 years on refineries and chemical and liquefied natural gas plants along the Gulf Coast.

Chairman and Chief Executive Darren Woods said the work would create 12,000 permanent jobs — Exxon currently has about 71,000 employees — and 35,000 construction jobs.

Exxon said it plans 10 expansion projects at current facilities around Beaumont and Baytown, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La., and wants to build a new chemical plant at a location yet to be determined along the gulf. It said the investments began in 2013.

The sum of $20 billion would be roughly equal to Exxon’s total capital spending last year. The company announced last week that it plans to increase overall investments to an average of $25 billion a year from 2018 to 2020.

The announcement comes as Woods makes his first public rounds as CEO. He succeeded Rex Tillerson, who left the company to become President Trump’s secretary of State, in January.

Woods is a veteran of the more cautious refining side of the oil business, seen as likely to focus on controlling costs.

Woods may take a more hesitant approach to dealmaking than Tillerson, who hailed from the more swashbuckling exploration side and famously did business with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It’s unclear whether Woods will be any more successful than Tillerson in achieving peace with environmental critics. The early signals are mixed.

Woods, 52, joined Exxon in 1992 and has spent most of his career in chemicals and refining, the so-called downstream part of the business.

“There is a different psychology in downstream than there is in oil and gas wildcatting,” said Cowen analyst Sam Margolin. “Downstream is very much about managing costs and trying to get the most out of the least effort.”