OIL prices had their biggest ever drop this week, falling by more than $16 a barrel in the last four days. Still, oil remains at stratospheric levels, settling at $128.88 a barrel on Friday. And with global oil consumption still growing faster than new supplies, there are few remedies. In an interview, Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, shared his views on oil prices, the role of Western companies in a world increasingly dominated by state-owned energy giants and the future for alternative fuels in a fossil fuel world.
Q. The debate lately has centered around expanding domestic drilling. But many say this will do nothing to reduce prices now because it takes 10 years before any new production comes online.
A. If you use that logic, then we should not have any of the barrels that are available today. All of today’s supplies were developed years ago. It is nonsensical for people to make that argument. It reflects the ongoing difficulty we have with people who don’t understand the nature of the energy system.
Q. Sure, but the argument is that we should focus on the demand side of the equation and that we cannot drill out of this problem.
A. Well, you can’t conserve yourself out of this problem either. You can’t replace your fuels with alternatives out of this problem either. The reason the United States has never had an energy policy is because an energy policy needs to be left alone for 15 to 20 years to take effect. But our policy makers want a two-year energy policy to fit with the election cycle because that is what people want. The answer is you can’t fix it right now.
Q. Globally, the picture for oil supplies looks pretty bleak. Where are new supplies going to come from in the next five years?
A. There is an access issue, in this country, and in many countries around the world. The problem with the supply side of the equation is a problem of accessing the resources in the ground so they can be explored and developed. That’s a political question where governments have made choices. This is something where the United States has to look at the mirror first.
NY Times
