ExxonMobil Production Company plans to apply advanced technology to the Hawkins Field, a discovery made by the company 100 miles east of Dallas in 1940, in an effort to recover the equivalent of an additional 40 million barrels of oil.
The company expects the new technologies applied to the field to extend the life of the field for another 25 years.
"ExxonMobil is applying some of its most advanced technologies to mature oil and natural gas fields. The investment is part of an ongoing effort to find, develop and produce more domestic supplies of oil and gas to meet the country's growing energy needs," said Kok-Yew See, ExxonMobil's US production manager.
He added, "ExxonMobil continues to invest in oil and natural gas development in Texas. Over the past three years our capital expenditure in the state exceeded $700 million.”
New facilities will be installed at the Hawkins Field to recover and reinject nitrogen and other gases from the field’s natural gas production. This will enable more oil and gas to be recovered from the reservoirs.
Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter 2010. Project start-up is anticipated in late 2011.
The Hawkins Field, in Wood County, Texas, has produced more than 800 million barrels of oil over the last 70 years.