Thread by @bill_hayton

1/6 Some thoughts on the rumours that Exxon is pulling out of its major South China Sea gas project (Blue Whale / Ca Noi Xanh) off Vietnam…
corporate.exxonmobil.com/locations/viet…

2/6 Exxon is under pressure to increase its stock price, so it has been selling off assets to buy back shares - eg talk of $4bn Norway project sale to ENI, $1bn Gulf of Mexico sale to Enron, $2bn exit from UK etc…
offshore-technology.com/news/exxonmobi…

3/6 Exxon has been haggling with the Vietnam authorities over the price of the landed gas from Blue Whale for years without agreement. It’s a big project with potentially massive profits.

4/6 However, rumours of CO2 contamination in the field mean it may be more expensive to develop than first thought

5/6 The gas field lies outside the U-shaped line, so far as we can tell

6/6 So this sounds to me more like a commercial issue driven either from head office (sell assets) or from the regional office (get a better price for the gas) - not by political pressure from Beijing

BTW I know that Blue Whale is 'Ca Voi Xanh' in Vietnamese but my spell-check doesn't.