July 9, 2012. Exxon Mobil Corp. said that it started production at the Kizomba Satellites Phase 1 project in offshore Angola. The project will in time produce 100,000 barrels of oil a day from two large deep-water fields, dubbed Mavacola and Clochas. It's one of several major oil production start-ups planned for this year, all of which are critical to maintaining a steady stream of cash at a time in which Exxon's massive North American natural gas operations are seeing their profitability squeezed by low prices for natural gas. Oil, which traded around $85.41 per barrel, remains much more profitable. The other developments are the Kearl oilsands project in Canada, and several Nigerian satellite fields attached to existing production facilities.