Sabrina Valle, Shariq Khan

HOUSTON (Reuters). Exxon Mobil On Monday, (NYSE:), sold its oil-and gas properties in the U.S. Shale field. A spokesperson said that this was part of a portfolio restructuring to concentrate on more profitable assets.

A top U.S. oil exporter set an ambitious goal to raise $15 billion through asset sales three years ago. He also placed several U.S.- and international assets on sale when energy prices had recovered from the recession.

The company will create a data area on Thursday to house its Barnett Shale holdings, which include approximately 2,700 wells spread over 182,000 acres in North Texas. It is also home of the original horizontally drilled Shale wells. Sarah Nordin, spokesperson for Exxon, confirmed that the sale was completed. Nordin stated that production operations would continue as normal during the marketing phase. Nordin stated that there has not been any agreement on the sale of the property and that no buyer has been found.

A person with knowledge of the matter said that producing properties were valued between $400 million to $500 million. U.S. gas prices rose 75% in the last year and settled at $5.01 for a million British thermal units Monday.

Exxon will close all sales by January. According to a marketing document that Reuters reviewed, the properties’ shale production fell by half between 2016 and 2016, reaching 227 million cubic yards per day (mcfd), in the first half this year.

Exxon said last year that it was interested in selling the wells. The Fayetteville Shale, Arkansas’ natural gas field that it owns was home to approximately 5,000 wells.

Exxon has decided to sell assets in Asia and Africa after a $22.4 billion loss for 2020. The company mainly focuses its efforts on Guyana, Brazil offshore, and the Permian basin.