US oil giant ExxonMobil Wednesday outlined a massive capital spending program to boost production growth over the next five years in a bid to reverse recent output declines. Exxon, delivering its annual analyst presentation at the New York Stock Exchange, said it would spend an average $38 billion per year in the 2013-2017 period, up $1 billion from the prior year's forecast. Exxon ended 2012 with oil and gas output of 4.24 million barrels a day, down 5.9 percent from 2011 and nearly double the decline Exxon had projected a year ago.

Rosneft signed Wednesday an agreement with ExxonMobil giving the the US super-major access to seven Arctic fields in exchange for the Russian firm's possible participation in a lucrative Alaskan gas project. The agreement -- signed by Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin and ExxonMobil exploration head Stephen Greenlee in the presence of President Vladimir Putin -- extends a strategic agreement that the two companies signed in 2011 focusing on Russia's Arctic offshore field development.

US oil giant ExxonMobil Friday reported higher fourth-quarter profits on better results in its refining and chemical divisions, which offset a drop in oil and gas production. The US's largest oil company said net income for the fourth quarter came in at a $9.95 billion, up 6 percent from the year-earlier period of $9.4 billion. Exxon's annual 2012 profit came in at $44.9 billion, up 9.3 percent from last year, and the company's highest profit since 2008. But the results underscored anew the challenge the oil giant faces growing its oil output.