Exxon boss: EU energy policy? This is madness. We prefer to stay back from Europe | Newstream

The CEO of the American oil company ExxonMobil Darren Woods criticized the energy policy of the European Union. According to him, it has gone too far and punitive measures against fossil fuels in Europe are now forcing the big energy companies to reconsider their plans and possibly invest elsewhere. Woods said this at the annual CERAWeek conference, which is taking place these days in Houston.

Woods pointed out that after years of being discouraged from investing in oil and gas, the EU had no alternative but to start burning coal to keep the lights on when Russian gas stopped flowing to the continent. By continuing to punish the industry with measures that harm it, such as the windfall tax, it will only make matters worse.

“What we’ve seen in Europe should be a wake-up call,” Woods said. According to him, Exxon reassessed its investment strategy in Europe and decided to hold back. In the meantime, it is pursuing new projects in the United States, where the new IRA Inflation Act offers incentives to companies rather than punitive measures.

Whip in Europe, sugar in the US

Woods is not the only one to point out the differences in the approach of governments in the EU and the US. The metaphor “American sugar and European whip” appears repeatedly at CERAWeek. American oil company executives are now showing interest in taking on new projects, and it’s not just because of the support provided by the IRA Act. Your share of it probably they also have record profits and 128 billion dollars (2.9 trillion crowns), which energy companies have already paid out to shareholders over the last year. CERAWeek is the largest gathering of energy industry representatives in the world.

Houston is also feeling a shift in the climate debate. The buzzword for company directors when describing the transformation of the energy sector is now “balance”, because in addition to sustainability, the words “availability” and “security” have also become among the main topics. The opinion that it will be difficult to end fossil fuels is also strengthened by the recent change of attitude of the British companies BP and Shell, which have decided to increase investments in oil and natural gas.

Despite all the criticism leveled at ExxonMobil, including from its own shareholders, Woods insists that his decision to stay out of oil and gas was the right one. And investors seem to agree, Bloomberg reported. Exxon’s shares have risen by more than 130 percent since the pandemic, which is almost double the growth of the shares of its closest competitor, Chevron.

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