Exxon Mobil shares close higher on Tuesday, company in talks with US government to speed up Golden Pass LNG expansion

At a conference in Doha on Tuesday, Exxon Mobil’s (XOM) Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said the oil major was in talks with the US government to speed up the expansion of the Golden Pass LNG project.

According to a report by S&P Global Platts, the $10 billion project is expected to begin in 2024.

The expansion would add natural gas liquefaction and export capabilities to the existing terminal at Sabine Pass, Texas, while its estimated capacity is approximately 18 million metric tons per year.

The original Golden Pass LNG project was launched in 2010 with a capacity of 15.6 million metric tons per year.

Exxon Mobil shares closed higher for the fourth time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Tuesday. It has also been the sharpest single-session gain since February 1st. The stock went up 6.22% ($5.36) to $91.48, after touching an intraday high at $92.53. The latter has been a price level not seen since June 16th ($93.13).

The shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation have risen 49.50% so far in 2022 compared with a 21.01% loss for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2021, Exxon Mobil Corp’s stock went up 48.45%, thus, it again outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 26.89% gain.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to TipRanks, at least 11 out of 16 surveyed investment analysts had rated Exxon Mobil Corp’s stock as “Buy”, while 5 – as “Hold”. The median price target on the stock stands at $103.93.