President and UAE Lead Country Manager of Exxon (Al-Khalij) Inc. Christian G. Lenoble announced that ExxonMobil has invested around $6.5 billion in Upper Zakum oilfield since its involvement in the offshore field in 2006, saying, “Upper Zakum is the second-largest offshore field in the world and we are planning to participate in increasing its production to one million barrels per day by 2024. It is a target that involves significant technical challenges to be overcome by quality investments.”

“ExxonMobil’s current focus is on Upper Zakum. We plan to invest several million dollars per year over the foreseeable future,” Lenoble told Emirates News Agency (WAM).

Lenoble underscored the oil and gas giant’s belief that the global demand for crude oil is set to continue over the next decade at least.

“Demand for oil, and despite all geopolitical challenges, is set to continue. We still believe that the demand growth is going to increase 1% per year until at least 2030,” he said.