Exxon CEO: "If we produce less natural gas, the world burns more coal"
June 08, 2023 at 05:41 am EDT
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Darren Woods, CEO of U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil, thinks European leaders should follow the example of the Americans and "let the market work" if they want to save the climate. By regulating too hard, Europe risks driving companies away, he says, which does not help the climate.
The gist: Woods spoke during with Nicolai Tangen, CEO of the Government Pension Fund of Norway, one of the largest mutual funds in the world.
During the podcast, Woods urged companies not to focus on certain energy sources, such as solar and wind power, to save the climate. "Instead, we need to look more broadly and let the markets figure out which solutions deliver the most emissions reductions at the lowest cost," Woods echoed.
Woods has long been an of European climate policy, which he says will cause companies to flee the continent. Among other things, companies will head to the U.S., he says, where they will be able to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act, a massive aid package from the Biden administration to reduce emissions.
One of the most important things the Americans (and ExxonMobil) are doing, Woods believes, is developing technologies to capture and store carbon(carbon capture). That way, fossil fuels can be used without emitting CO2.
"Carbon capture is going to play a very important role. It's a technology that exists today. We have a lot of experience with it," Woods said. Hydrogen and biofuels will also play a role, the Exxon CEO believes.
Cobbler, stick to your last
Woods does not favor the course other oil companies have been taking in recent years, which is to install solar and wind power.
Instead of developing renewable energy sources, ExxonMobil will focus on technologies , which will reduce fossil fuel emissions. "Ultimately, we are a molecule company, not an electron company," Woods said.
According to Woods, the world cannot immediately move away from oil and gas. If ExxonMobil stopped doing so, other companies would come forward to fill the gap in the market. "If we stop producing diesel and gasoline, world demand doesn't change. Someone else will meet that ... if we produce less liquefied natural gas, the world burns ," the Exxon executive said.
Exxon Mobil Corporation is an oil group organized around 3 areas of activity:
- refining and distribution (78.8% of net sales): 5.2 million barrels of oil products (diesel fuel, gasoline, fuel oil, lubricants, motor oils, etc.) sold per day. At the end of 2021, the group operated a network of 22,545 service stations under the Exxon, Mobil, Esso names, etc.;
- petrochemical (13.3%): primarily oils, aromas, alcohols, ethylene, elastomers, propylene, and polymers (26.3 Mt sold in 2021) for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, textile, electrical, etc.;
- exploration and production of hydrocarbons (7.9%; worldwide leader): 2.3 million barrels of oil produced per day and 241.7 million m3 of natural gas produced per day.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the United States (37.7%), Canada (8%), Singapore (5.4%), the United Kingdom (5.3%), France (4.8%), Italy (3.6%), Belgium (3.3%), Australia (2.8%) and other (29.1%).
EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION 
