HOUSTON, Dec 11 Reuters Exxon Mobil on Wednesday said its annual project spending will rise to between 28 billion and 33 billion between 2026 and 2030 as it looks to boost its oil and gas output by 18.

This follows its acquisition of U.S. shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources.

The top U.S. oil producer laid out a fiveyear plan to increase earnings by 20 billion and cash flow by 30 billion to fund its expansion plans for oil and liquefied natural gas LNG production and drive shareholder returns.

The new targets come as Exxon is riding high. Its Guyana operations are generating huge profits and U.S. shale business is on track to double oil production this year through its acquisition of Pioneer. In LNG, it is a mixed bag with setbacks in its U.S. and Mozambique projects.

CEO Darren Woods said the increased project spending is expected to generate returns of more than 30 over the life of the investments.

Exxon aims to more than triple its production in the Permian, the top U.S. shale field, to 2.3 million barrels per day bpd by 2030 and pump 1.3 million bpd from its lucrative Guyana operations.

Overall oil and gas output should hit 5.4 million bpd, up about 18 from roughly 4.58 million bpd currently.

The company39;s shares were down a fraction in premarket trading to 112.30 with many of the projects and targets already known. Exxon said it will add two projects in Guyana by 2030, in line with a previous statement of 7 to 10 total, while its LNG target remains 40…