(Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods renewed criticism of the European Union’s energy policies while praising U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach.
The Texas oil and gas giant is slowing investment in Europe and selling assets, with Woods describing the bloc’s climate and human rights regulations as “slowing things down and trying to over-prescribe unpractical” solutions.
He was underlining strong criticism he directed last month at the EU’s ”bone-crushing” Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
In contrast, Trump has brought a “more balanced conversation” and “a very explicit recognition of the vital role that energy plays in economic growth and in people’s everyday prosperity,” Woods said on stage at the Energy Intelligence Forum conference in London on Monday.
Even with this political backing, Woods told the audience that Exxon is concerned that growth in U.S. shale oil output is set to decline. This could change if companies can learn how to extract more than 10% of the oil held within shale reservoirs — roughly the current rate of recovery, he said.
Exxon’s return to Iraq, where it signed a deal related to the Majnoon oil field last week, still has a “long road ahead for us before anything comes to fruition,” he said.
