U.S. oil producers will not ‘drill, baby, drill’ under Trump, Exxon executive says
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U.S. oil and gas producers are not likely to raise production significantly during the coming Trump administration, because they will remain focused on capital discipline, a senior Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) executive said Tuesday.
“We’re not going to see anybody in ‘drill, baby, drill’ mode,” Liam Mallon, head of Exxon’s (XOM) upstream division, told the Energy Intelligence Forum conference in London. “A radical change [in production] is unlikely because the vast majority, if not everybody, is focused on the economics of what they’re doing.”
Mallon also reinforced recent remarks by Exxon (XOM) CEO Darren Woods supporting the 2015 Paris climate agreement and the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, whose incentives such as tax credits for capturing carbon, producing hydrogen and making sustainable aviation fuel, are popular with oil companies.
Trump has pledged for months on the campaign trail that he would expand domestic oil and gas drilling in his new administration, turning away from renewable alternatives that had been prioritized under President Biden.
The promise to increase output comes as the U.S. is already the leading producer of oil worldwide, producing more than 13.4M bbl/day, and with crude benchmark prices only in the high $60s and low $70s, boosting output likely would depress prices further.