ExxonMobil Begins Deepwater Production in Brazil’s Bacalhau Field

ExxonMobil Brazil, Equinor, Petrogal Brazil, and PPSA commenced oil production at the Bacalhau field, 185 km offshore in water deeper than 2,000 meters. The field is developed with an advanced floating production, storage, and offloading vessel that uses high-pressure gas compression and combined-cycle power generation. This marks the company’s first upstream production in Brazil and a significant step for global deepwater expansion.

The Bacalhau field will deliver 220,000 barrels per day of production capacity, with Phase 1 reserves estimated at over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Its discovery well was drilled in 2012 and Equinor became the primary operator in 2016, but ExxonMobil Brazil will manage the offloading and transporting of the crude oil share. The project shares are:

• ExxonMobil Brazil (40%)
• Equinor (40%)
• Petrogal Brazil (20%)

FPSO Bacalhau | Image Credit: ExxonMobil

This kickoff represents the first greenfield pre-salt development in Brazil by an international operator, with Bacalhau’s first oil driving technological development and bolstering the country’s energy industry. It also cements ExxonMobil’s position in global deepwater basins and prepares Brazil for future growth in the frontier exploration space.

Baytown Facility

In May 2025, ExxonMobil’s facility in Baytown, TX, agreed to supply Marubeni Corp. with approximately 250,000 tons of low-carbon ammonia per year. Additionally, Marubeni will acquire an equity stake in the low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia production facility. Once purchased, the ammonia will be shipped to Japan and primarily supplied to the Kobe power plant, a subsidiary of Kobe Steel.

ExxonMobil’s Baytown facility, expected to be the largest-of-its-kind once commissioned, will produce low-carbon ammonia and hydrogen with approximately 98% of CO₂ removed. Per year, the facility is slated to produce over 1 million tons of low-carbon ammonia and, on a per-day basis, up to 1 bcf of low-carbon hydrogen. The company anticipates a final investment decision in 2025, pending additional governmental policy support and the required regulatory permits.

The Kobe power plant intends to co-fire this low-carbon ammonia supply with current fuels to minimize CO₂ emissions by fiscal year 2030. Marubeni will leverage this supply chain to decarbonize various Japanese sectors, such as power, steel manufacturing, chemicals, transportation, and other hard-to-abate sectors.

Recently, ExxonMobil agreed to transfer and permanently store up to 2 MTPA of CO₂ from Calpine’s Baytown Energy Center near Houston, TX, per a CO₂ transportation and storage agreement. From the cogeneration facility, the carbon will be transported through ExxonMobil’s CO₂ pipeline system to support oil recovery applications and deliver a continuous supply of low-carbon electricity and steam along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Engineering, permitting, and additional development work are underway at Calpine’s Baytown CCS project, which will generate approximately 500 MW of low-carbon electricity and steam to power over 500,000 Texas households and industrial users, respectively. The project, expected to create construction and permanent, skilled positions, is designed to capture the Baytown Energy Center’s CO₂ emissions.

Carbon Storage

In mid-October 2024, ExxonMobil signed the largest offshore CO₂ storage lease in the United States with the Texas General Land Office for a 271,000-acre site in Texas’ Gulf of Mexico waters. The site complements ExxonMobil’s under-development onshore CO₂ storage portfolio and contributes further CCS activity to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The terms of the agreement will directly benefit the Texas Permanent School Fund, enhancing education for Texas children while reducing emissions and promoting community development in nearby areas.