ExxonMobil has been named the most-admired upstream explorer in the world, according to Wood Mackenzie’s 2025 Exploration Survey, a recognition underpinned mainly by the company’s performance offshore Guyana.
The award, announced at Wood Mackenzie’s annual Exploration Summit in Bordeaux in June, reflects ExxonMobil’s decade-long dominance in deepwater exploration. WoodMac stated that, since 2015, the U.S. oil major has discovered more than eight billion barrels of oil equivalent on a net equity basis, surpassing any other company globally over that period.
A substantial portion of those volumes has come from Guyana’s offshore Stabroek Block, where Exxon holds a 45% operating stake. In total, Exxon and its partners have discovered over 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels in the block, positioning the South American country as a new heavyweight in the global oil industry.
“ExxonMobil’s win as the most-admired explorer for 2025 is well-deserved,” said Andrew Latham, Senior Vice President at Wood Mackenzie.
He added, “Based on its decade-long exploration and development success in Guyana in particular, ExxonMobil has created almost US$30 billion in value and already surpassed 700,000 barrels per day of new oil production. The company has set a new benchmark in opening up a deepwater frontier at pace.”
Since first oil in December 2019, Exxon has steadily ramped up production in Guyana to more than 650,000 barrels per day in 2025, across three floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) platforms. Additional FPSOs are expected online in the coming years, pushing output capacity past 1.3 million barrels per day by 2027.
Latham noted that global exploration drilling continues to target advantaged resources to help meet demand for cheaper and cleaner oil and gas supply. He added, “Drilling around existing infrastructure has a role to play, but these prospects are not sufficient.” He said the most successful explorers must embrace “greater risks to open up new plays and basins that promise greater resources.”
Other top performers recognized at the awards include Galp Energia and its partners for the Mopane discovery offshore Namibia, estimated to hold 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place; Murphy Oil was recognized as E&P Explorer of the Year for new oil finds in Vietnam; and China’s CNOOC as NOC Explorer of the Year for discoveries both at home and as a partner in Guyana.
CNOOC, which owns a 25% stake in the Stabroek Block, has discovered over seven billion oil-equivalent barrels over the past decade, ranking second to ExxonMobil.
Exxon’s exploration chief, John Ardill, and his team were commended for their role in the Guyana success story, which has transformed the country’s economic outlook and helped establish a new frontier in deepwater oil development.
