Exxon Mobil announces 700m barrel find

Oil industry giant Exxon Mobil has announced a major discovery in the US Gulf.

It confirmed that it has found two major oil discoveries and a natural-gas find in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico, which combined would total more than 700 million barrels of recoverable oil and gas resources.

The find at the Hadrian South and Hadrian North prospects were made in 2009 and 2010, while the third discovery was made in the Keathley Canyon area following its first exploration of the region since the lifting of the nine-month Deepwater Horizon disaster ban.

"This is one of the largest discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico in the last decade," said Steve Greenlee, president of Exxon Mobil’s exploration business.

"More than 85 per cent of the resource is oil with additional upside potential."

The unveiling of the discoveries mark a reawakening of the region’s potential for the oil industry following the slump caused by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.