Darren Woods, CEO, ExxonMobil on Fox brings his perspective to the current Israel/Iran conflict.

We have not reached peak oil demand, and need congress to act now to hold the European Union's "corporate sustainability due diligence directive" at bay.

In this key discussion with Darrin Woods, CEO, ExxonMobil, and Bret Baier on Fox, it was an excellent exchange on global energy, regulations, and the issue of the Israel-Iran war going on. The full transcript is provided below, following the bullet points.

One of the key questions from Bret was very critical around the European Union’s rules on Carbon Capture and adherence to their climate regulations. Darren was very candid and said we need to get legislation wrapped up to protect U.S. Energy companies from the horrific regulations and climate taxation that the EU will impose on our energy exports. The United States will be crippeled in being energy dominant if our congress does not act swiftly.

For investors seeking profits in the energy sector, this was a pivotal exchange. For our Energy Secretary Chris Wright, it is almost a list of things to work on with President Trump. We must get Congress to enact protections, or the United Energy Dominance is at risk. Please make no mistake, the EU wants to retain its carbon tax and Net Zero policies, which will impact the oil, gas, and nuclear industries, and subsequently affect the economic recovery and the glory days we seek for wealth creation.

The discussion also covers the recent attacks on Iran by Israel and the potential impact on the global energy market, particularly oil prices. Darren Woods provides his perspective on the situation. He explains that the oil market was already in an extended position before the attacks, and Iran's export capacity has been largely spared, leading to a decline in oil prices.

However, Woods cautions that if the infrastructure for oil exports or the shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is impacted, it could have a more significant effect on the market. He also discusses the potential impact of sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil, as well as the challenges of permitting and regulations, particularly the European Union's corporate sustainability due diligence directive, which he believes could negatively impact U.S. Companies. Overall, Woods remains optimistic about the U.S. Energy industry's ability to meet future demand, citing the potential for further technological advancements and the need for a more streamlined regulatory environment.

The graphic below illustrates most of Iran's oil assets and the Strait of Hormuz.

Darren also notes that there is currently enough spare capacity in the system to accommodate any disruption to Iranian oil exports, but not if the Strait of Hormuz is blocked. Much like Michael and I discussed on the podcast and in articles on Energy News Beat.

Woods also discusses the challenge of permitting and regulations, particularly on federal lands, as a significant obstacle to the energy industry's investment and growth. - He expresses concern about the European Union's "corporate sustainability due diligence directive" and how it could have an extraterritorial impact on US companies doing business in Europe.

And Darren believes that oil demand will continue to grow through 2050, driven by increasing energy needs in developing countries, as well as demand for plastics. He sees the US as being well-positioned to meet this growing demand, provided the right regulatory environment is in place.

---

Full Transcript:

Bret Baier, Fox News Anchor [00:00:46] You know, obviously this has all happened over the past three, four days, and a lot of questions about how it impacts the energy industry, and specifically oil. How do you see it today?

Darren Woods, CEO, Exxon Mobil [00:00:55] Well, I think you have to start with the context before Israel's strikes began. The markets were fairly long and OPEC was looking at putting more production on prices were coming off. So, in the context of what was a long market. There were strikes in anticipation of potential disruptions to the ability for Iran to export oil. I think prices rose, and then as we've seen the attacks kind of carry their way through the weekends, that export capacity has been spared, I think, quite purposefully, to not disrupt the oil supply. And so we've see prices start to come off again. There's enough spare capacity in the system today to accommodate any Iranian oil that comes off the market. The bigger issue will be if infrastructure for exports or the shipping past the Strait of Hormuz is impacted, that will have a bigger impact.

Bret Baier, Fox News Anchor [00:01:46] There's an effort, Lindsey Graham, a bipartisan effort up here to sanction Russian oil, Iranian oil, the Chinese clearly are buying both. Does that affect the market?

Darren Woods, CEO, Exxon Mobil [00:02:01] I think if, depending on how the sanctions are applied, but if they're successful actually taking the oil off, again, they can take the Iranian oil off and I think there's spare capacity to address that. Maybe some of the Russian oil, you've also got the Venezuelan oil that may come off. So when you start to add all those up, what you're doing is taking out less and less contingency and then you have got less room for error as the world goes forward. So as the markets get tighter, you tend to see prices go up because The market is signaling we want more capacity, we want more investment. And they're thinking not in the immediate, but kind of longer term, the ability to bring in more capacity.

Bret Baier, Fox News Anchor [00:02:37] I've heard energy experts say that the Trump administration is good on a number of fronts when it comes to regulations, when it come to innovation for the energy industry. What's the biggest challenge that you all have?

Darren Woods, CEO, Exxon Mobil [00:02:50] What's one I think the administration's very focused on, in fact, Secretary Wright, Secretary Burgum have addressed this specifically, which is the challenge of permitting. If you look at our base business of drilling wells on state land, say in Texas, we can get a permit to drill in one to two months. On federal land, it can take one to to years. When it comes to storing CO2 or drilling to store CO2, it could take two to five years to get a permitting, so permitting really is the thing that's getting in way. Of not just our industry, but I think all industries being able to invest, jobs, steel on the ground, progress is coming online.

Bret Baier, Fox News Anchor [00:03:24] And obviously we're talking about the world situation, and we're dealing with tariff negotiations with all kinds of places, including the E.U. And I was struck by the SEC chairman talking about this European due diligence directive. Tickles.

Bret Baier, Fox News Anchor [00:04:00] Alright, put that in English for our viewers. What is this due diligence directive and why is it?

Darren Woods, CEO, Exxon Mobil [00:04:06] Well, one of the advantages of this job is I get to see all around the world policies being put in place that affect our industry. This is probably one of most irresponsible pieces of legislation I've seen come across to any country, which is basically exporting the failed policies of Europe to get their businesses to comply with their climate objectives that have led to essentially deindustrialization of Europe. It's burdened their businesses, made them less competitive. That's failed, and rather than deregulating in Europe and trying to clear the... The regulation and give their business a chance to compete, they're trying to export that regulation and put it on other companies, U.S. Companies like ourselves.

Bret Baier, Fox News Anchor [00:04:42] In other words, if you're going to do business in the EU, you have to follow these stipulations.

Darren Woods, CEO, Exxon Mobil [00:04:46] For our entire corporation. So the business that I do in Texas or Australia or China all have to basically comply with e-regulations which require us to try to meet the Paris Accord and the 1.5 degree warming which is today not technically possible with the solution set that's out there.

Bret Baier, Fox News Anchor [00:05:03] So how does the EU get this Trump card over policy that affects the US? And how do we, as the US, fight that?

Darren Woods, CEO, Exxon Mobil [00:05:11] I think the Trump administration, we've talked to them about bringing this into the tariff discussions as a non-tariff barrier that's impacting U.S. Companies and across all industries to compete in the U. S. Congress can pass legislation that tells U. S. Companies that they don't have to follow that legislation. So essentially, Europe opens that door by anybody doing business in Europe at a level of revenue. That exceeds 450 million euros, which for an energy company is easily surpassed.

Bret Baier, Fox News Anchor [00:05:43] Just look to the future. Last June, the International Energy Agency said oil demand will peak in 2029.

Darren Woods, CEO, Exxon Mobil [00:05:51] No chance of that happening. I think what you see happening in demand, even as you continue to grow wind, as you grow solar, you're gonna continue to see demand for oil and gas grow through 2050. I think people fail to recognize is the large parts of the planet that are living in energy poverty. Four billion people are living below what would be a minimum threshold for a standard of living and the energy associated with that. All those people are working to... Raise their standards of living economies are trying to grow around the world that's going to take energy and that energy in these areas that need to grow the less developed countries that's what's going drive the demand for energy and uh... Feeding the demand four plastics which is absolutely critical to support modern living all that leads to this greater level of demand is the u s in a good position uses a very good position today i think A lot of work needs to happen. We're very early in the unconventional lifecycle, and so I think there's a lot of technology development that's yet to come that will continue to unlock those resources. I think if we get the right permitting regime in place, the right regulatory regime in place, one that achieves the objectives of the regulation, without all the bureaucracy and the red tape, I think we're in a very good position to do that. Infrastructure will be critical. All right. We appreciate your time.

---

This was an outstanding interview, and I will follow up with the administration to discuss an interview and explore how we can help protect the United States Energy market against the EU’s "corporate sustainability due diligence directive". There is no reason for the United States to be undermined by the EU’s climate agenda.