No Hydrocarbons Found in Key Exxon Mobil Prospect Offshore Brazil, Partner Says

Exxon Mobil Corp. failed to find oil in its first well in a new exploration area off Brazil’s Northeast coast, its partner Enauta Participacoes SA said on March 28, the latest in a series of setbacks for the U.S. producer in the country.

Exxon Mobil had hoped the prospect could become its first discovery as an operator in Brazil, one of its key three bets for future production growth, along with Guyana and the U.S. Permian Basin.

The disappointing news about the so-called Cutthroat prospect in Sergipe-Alagoas Basin came just a week after Exxon Mobil’s second minority partner in the venture, Houston-based oil producer Murphy Oil Corp., trumpeted its potential to yield as much as 1 billion barrels of oil and gas.