ExxonMobil Corp. and partners plan to spend.$4.4 billion to develop part of the Liza oil field off the coast of Guyana, approving a megaproject at a time when the oil industry has grown obsessed with lower-cost shale, ExxonMobil said June 16.

ExxonMobil’s decision shows that oil companies remain interested in large projects, especially offshore, even in an era of belt-tightening after two years of low crude prices.

The Guyana announcement from ExxonMobil and partners Hess Corp. and CNOOC was the fifth deepwater project to gain approvals this year. BP and Reliance Industries said on June 15 they would spend $6 billion to develop natural gas reserves off the Indian coast.

ExxonMobil said the Guyana project was approved due in part to its low cost of production.

“We’re excited about the tremendous potential of the Liza Field and accelerating first production through a phased development in this lower cost environment,” Liam Mallon, ExxonMobil’s head of development, said in a statement.

Phase 1 of the Liza development project should tap about 450 MMbbl of oil and pump about 120 Mbbl/d when it comes online in 2020, ExxonMobil said in a statement.

The Liza Field is roughly 190 km (118 miles) off the coast of Guyana. ExxonMobil plans 17 wells as part of the project’s first phase. A second phase is possible in the future, the company said.

New York-based Hess said it expects its share of the project’s cost to be about $955 million.

—Reuters