ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods is eyeing oil and natural gas deals despite calls to reduce emissions, saying any shift in the world’s energy supply will take decades, Bloomberg reports.
The energy giant predicts oil demand growing at 0.6% per year over the long term and demand for natural gas increasing 1.3% per year even as policymakers look for ways to wean countries off of fossil fuels.
That means significant new investments—like the one announced in Baton Rouge earlier this year—including acquisitions, will be needed, Woods said at an energy conference in New York Wednesday, even though shareholders are calling for Big Oil to reduce spending and return more cash to shareholders.
ExxonMobil will be watching for potential acquisition targets in shale drilling, Woods said, as smaller companies shrink in West Texas.
While its biggest U.S. rival, Chevron, made an unsuccessful attempt to buy Anadarko Petroleum earlier this year—eventually losing out to a $38 billion offer from Occidental Petroleum—Exxon has remained on the sidelines. That wait-and-see approach comes as frackers struggle with disappointing well performance and relentless cash burn.
“Right now there’s some time,” Woods said. “I think people need to recalibrate what they’re experiencing in that unconventional space and that will have an impact on how people value companies.” Read the full story from Bloomberg.
