Crude deposit could be worth $70 billion at current prices Hess, CNOOC are partners in drilling 120 miles offshore Exxon Mobil Corp.’s oil discovery off the coast of Guyana may hold as much as 1.4 billion barrels, twice the size of the previous estimate, making it potentially worth about $70 billion based on current prices. The Liza field 120 miles (193 kilometers) from the coast of Guyana is a “world-class discovery” that probably will yield the equivalent of 800 million to 1.4 billion barrels of crude, the Irving, Texas-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Hess Corp., a partner in the field, will see a 39 percent boost in current proved reserves at the upper end of the estimate. Exxon’s announcement comes as the oil industry emerges from the worst market slump in decades. Since dipping to a 12-year low in January, Brent, the international benchmark for crude […]