Exxon is one of the world's energy giants. This energy behemoth has its hands on coal, gas, and oil development all over the world. And, while like any company whose revenues outstrip those of many a third-world nation, they've had a misstep or two - just ask anyone who was living in Valdez, Alaska in 1989.
But they know their business. Their business is energy; reliable, affordable energy. And what's more, they seem to have a pretty good bead on what's going to be involved in providing said energy for the foreseeable future: Coal, oil, and natural gas, and plenty of it.
That production is projected to increase, not decrease.
A recent article from Bloomberg, carried by Rigzone, describes Exxon/Mobil Corporation’s (Exxon) plan to continue investing in and developing oil and gas resources well into the future. This is welcome news, as Exxon is right that oil and gas will be needed for a very long time, not just for transportation fuels and to generate electricity, but for other uses as well.
The article, “Exxon Says Demand Makes Case for Fossil Fuel Growth,” reports on the company’s promise to continue pursuing growth in their oil and gas projects between now and 2050, with no plans to slow or halt investments or operations.
Bloomberg reports that Exxon “is not concerned with ‘chasing the narrative of the week’ but will invest in oil and gas projects that it believes will be needed for decades to come.”
Exxon's upcoming efforts can be summarized in three words: Drill, baby, drill.
“Upstream” in this context means exploration, drilling, and production, so this is heartening to hear from Dan Ammann, president of Exxon’s upstream division. Exxon is not planning any reductions, Bloomberg reports, instead the company will “double its sales of liquefied natural gas by 2030 and is investing heavily in oil growth in Guyana and the Permian Basin.”
Ammann said the company is forecasting that energy demand is going to continue to grow, and that refusing to divert from its core business of oil and gas development and sales for climate reasons has worked out well for Exxon. He said that for companies that chose to declare their commitment to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, there was “literally no math you could do to suggest that was a good idea.”
The modern world, but the developed nations, the developing nations, and even the Third World, are increasingly energy-hungry. And we should note that, despite the efforts of well-meaning but self-deluded climate scolds in the United States and Europe, small villages in Africa and Southeast Asia aren't going in for solar panels and windmills. They are demanding electricity, which would be the single greatest thing to lift them out of permanent, abject poverty and into the modern world - or at least the post-Industrial Revolution world - and their governments are turning to coal. Just look at the energy production mix for the last few decades.
— Ward Clark (@TheGreatLander) October 8, 2025
Look, as well, at what Africa and Southeast Asia are actually doing.
Coal and gas are the big winners here, and the laws of physics are pretty much guaranteed to keep things that way, at least until large-scale nuclear power comes on line - and probably even after that.
Read More: Interesting: Turns Out Carbon Dioxide Is Good for Trees
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Now, this will set the climate scolds alight. Ever since the Exxon Valdez incident, Exxon has been one of the "green" left's arch-demons, even though you'll find scant traces of that spill in Valdez today.
Reality is reasserting itself. The earth isn't about to catch fire. Crop yields are increasing, not decreasing. Ocean levels are not rising catastrophically - if they were, one would think the Obamas would be interested in divesting from all of their oceanfront properties, some of which are about three inches above the high-tide line. They aren't, so that tells you a lot. The Earth is, in fact, greening with the slight increase in CO2. Plants, from ocean phytoplankton to the Amazon rainforest to the jungles of equatorial Africa and the vast northern taiga, are just going right on converting sunlight, CO2, and trace minerals into carbohydrates and sugars - food.
Exxon is right to stay this course. They have been right about renewables, as well, for some time now.
A recent Bloomberg article, titled “Exxon Says Reaching Net Zero Global Emissions by 2050 ‘Highly Unlikely’,” describes a regulatory filing Exxon Mobil Corporation made indicating that there would be significant risk associated with phasing out oil and gas production and use. Exxon and Glass Lewis, the advisor they referenced, are right. Getting rid of oil and gas in pursuit of Net-Zero emissions by 2050 would seriously impact the peoples’ standards of living globally.
It goes far beyond energy. Almost every aspect of our modern, technological lifestyles is based on petroleum by-products. Everything from clothing to cell phones and tablets to computers to medical devices and even pharmaceuticals is dependent on by-products of the petroleum industry.
Exxon is right. For the foreseeable future, we'll be relying on oil. Want clean, reliable, affordable electricity without the emissions? Build more nuclear power plants; that's worth doing. But the entire world will be and should be depending on fossil fuels for decades, maybe centuries, to come.
