ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest international oil company, joined the world of corporate blogging Monday with a strong stand in defending the industry’s record in deepwater drilling. The move was surprising on several fronts. Exxon does not strike one as the blogging sort, calling for input on its ideas and engaging in a conversation on an industry it has long led. But ‘encouraging dialogue’, it says, is the plan.
Indeed, Exxon launched the site on the eve of a hearing of a subcommittee of the House energy and commerce committee at which the majors have been called to testify about the future of energy. The heads of Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips all expect the oil spill to be a main part of the questioning and are planning a strong defence. Nonetheless, Congressmen use platforms like this as a way to gain political mileage, and the industry fears it will face criticism for its inability to help BP stop the spill and contain it. The companies hope to make the case that they would never have had the need to stop and contain a disaster of this sort because they would never have it in the first place.
Setting up the blog ahead of that hearing gave Exxon an opportunity to begin making that case to the public as it pushes for continued drilling in the deepwater, which has been put on hold by a six-month moratorium. From the blog:
This devastating chain of events is far from the industry norm. We all need to understand what occurred on this occasion that did not occur at the 14,000 other deepwater wells that have been successfully drilled around the world. ExxonMobil and others have, over the course of many years, developed and implemented procedures and equipment that have proved very effective in safely managing our offshore wells.
Exxon goes on to explain why deepwater drilling in the Gulf remains crucial. It accounts for about 24 per cent of US oil production. Oil and gas activities in the Gulf account for about 170,000 jobs. Last year, the oil the US produced from the Gulf was more than it imported from any single country except for Canada. Within five years, global deepwater production is expected to rise to 10m barrels per day – the amount of crude and liquids that Saudi Arabia produces every day (although as we wrote last week, some big forecasters believe that GoM deepwater production will peak around the middle of this decade).
All that may be true, but the word is that President Barack Obama plans to use the catastrophe to his advantage by painting it as an overwhelming argument for putting a price on carbon in the US and pressing for clean energy. The industry believes that demand – and therefore consumption – of fossil fuels will continue growing for the next two or three decades. It seems Exxon will have much fodder for discussion on its blog in the months ahead.
Related links:
More than talk needed to win public confidence in the oil industry - FT Energy Source
How much the Gulf of Mexico might contribute to future supply - FT Energy Source
How the majors see ‘business as usual’ on energy and climate - FT Energy Source
