Stepping on the gas: at the hawkins field
Supermajor revs up at Hawkins
US supermajor ExxonMobil has unveiled plans to pump an extra 40 million barrels of oil equivalent from the Hawkins field, in Texas' onshore play.
The company plans to install reinjection facilities at Hawkins, which is in Wood County, east of Dallas, which will allow it to pump produced gas into the field's reservoir, enhancing recovery.
The reinjection programme will also reduce emissions at the field by almost one-third.
ExxonMobil said construction will start in the first quarter of this year, with start-up pencilled in for late 2011.
The supermajor added that the reinjection programme should extend the Hawkins field's life by a further 25 years.
The field was discovered in 1940. Over the past 70 years, it has produced more than 800 million barrels of oil.