Exxon seeks 'constructive relationships'

Exxon seeks 'constructive relationships'

Josef Hebert, Associated Press, Washington

The idea of American energy independence is a myth and the
United States must maintain "constructive relationships" with
oil-producing countries for its own prosperity, the head of
petroleum giant Exxon Mobil Corp. said.

"We do not have the resource base to be energy independent,"
Exxon Mobil chairman Lee R. Raymond said on Monday in a speech in
which he outlined some of what he called the "hard truths" about
global energy markets.

Raymond, who runs the world's largest publicly traded oil
company, said that while other countries, including Russia, will
play a growing role in supplying oil to the world, the Middle
East will remain the center of supply because it holds as much as
half of the world's oil reserves.

"We simply cannot avoid significant reliance on oil and gas
from the Middle East because the world's supply pool (of oil) is
highly dependent upon the Middle East," Raymond said in a speech
at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

The fact that the United States and the rest of the world will
have to depend increasingly for its oil and also for natural gas
from Middle East, "is not a matter of ideology or politics," he
said. "It is simply inevitable."

Raymond scoffed at suggestions - heard commonly among
politicians in Washington - of energy independence.

"We periodically hear calls for U.S. energy independence as if
this were a real option," he said. "The fact is, the United
States is a part of the world energy market and we must
participate and compete in that market."

At a time when relations with some major oil producers such as
Saudi Arabia and Venezuela are strained, Raymond said the United
States must work to "maintain appropriate and constructive
relationships with oil-rich countries in the future. They will be
very important for our prosperity and our security."

Responding to a question from the audience about the recent
terrorist attacks that killed oil workers in Saudi Arabia,
Raymond said they "obviously give us a lot of pause" because
Exxon Mobil has workers and investments in petrochemical plants
and refineries in the country.

'We're going through a difficult patch right now ... and may
for some time," he said.

Exxon Mobil earned a record US$21.5 billion last year, nearly
double the previous year, and also reported record earnings
during the first quarter of this year as crude oil and gasoline
prices soared.

Raymond predicted that fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural
gas - will continue to provide most of the energy for many
decades, even if there are improvement in conservation and
efficiency and expansion of other energy sources.

As for global warming, Raymond expressed -as he often has -
his skepticism about the science and predicted that in the
decades ahead "carbon dioxide emissions from greater fossil fuel
use will climb."

Carbon dioxide is the leading "greenhouse gas" that many
scientists believe eventually will cause a warming of the earth
if allowed to continue to grow.

"We simply do not yet have the economic solutions or
technologies that would permit us to meet future energy demands
without carbon emissions growth," Raymond said.