Oil turbulence may last five years, says ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods on Tuesday said it would take time for energy market volatility to end and that he expects three to five years of fairly tight oil markets. Speaking at a panel at the Bloomberg Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Woods added that the company had asked the US administration for a more efficient investment process.

He also pointed out that ExxonMobil is one of the few companies in the US actively investing in refining and had started an aggressive investment programme since 2017.

“The investment plan that we laid out five years ago is the plan we are currently on and the pipeline of the projects that we have are continuing; they are very robust,” he said.

US President Joe Biden this month accused the US oil industry, and ExxonMobil in particular, of capitalising on a supply shortage to fatten profits after a report showed inflation surging to a 40-year record high. Biden told reporters the company had “made more money than God”. Asked about the comment on Tuesday, Woods said: “We tend to look past the political rhetoric that we see day in day out.”

Exxon joins oil majors in Qatar’s mega-LNG project

QatarEnergy on Tuesday signed a deal with Exxon Mobil Corp for the Gulf state’s North Field East expansion, the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, following agreements with TotalEnergies , Eni and ConocoPhillips. Qatar is partnering with international companies in the first and largest phase of the nearly $30-billion expansion that will boost Qatar’s position as the world’s top LNG exporter. The companies will form a joint venture and Exxon will hold a 25 per cent stake in that, QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi said (Reuters).

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