Exxon Head: U.S. Must Be Energy Dependent

[Khephra]

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 Monday night.

"We do not have the resource base to be energy independent," Exxon Mobil chairman Lee R. Raymond said 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.

more............

http://www.newsday.com/business/investing/wire/sns-ap-exxon-raymond,0,5840120.story?coll=sns-ap-investing-headlines

[tkmorris]

1. In other news.....

The US Dairy Association declared milk to be an essential part our daily diet.

What's this guys point? Why would anyone think he would be objective? I sure didn't expect him to tell us that we can and should develop alternative energy sources, and do it now. It's silly I tell you, just silly.

[Fridays Child]

2. No self interest here. Nope. Not one bit. Just...

...the unbiased, unvarnished truth that Dick Cheney loves to hear.

:eyes:

[punpirate]

3. And this guy represents... whom?

Let's have this moron CEO whip out a statistic or two on how much renewable energy R&D could have been done with the tax money paid out on the oil depletion allowance since the 1978 oil shock, along with how much the government would have invested in alternative research had the Reagan administration not killed virtually all of the initiatives begun in the Carter administration.

[thebigidea]

4. in other news, money makes people say very stupid things

[Pachamama]

5. Actually, this is correct and amazing that he's admiting this...what he...

...needs to add is that the US needs to become "less Oil dependedent" period, and look to renewable and alternative energy sources, but what he is saying is completely right-on, counters ofcourse the claims of Bush Co. of why we all need to drill in ANWR and ofcourse explains why we are in the Middle East right now and "trying to stabilize/influence it"....

About 7 years ago, while I was actively involved in environmental activities in Equador and Peru, there was a Geologist who I spoke with and said at the time that we (the planet) only had about 40-50 years left of oil, including the untapped reserves....he said it was the best kept secret in the "Oil business"....Meanwhile, I saw this Geologist again recently at a party and he said with the global increased consumption since 1997 when he told me that info, that it is now more like 20 years....

This Exxon exec. is right on when he says America must be energy dependent...because we have no choice as long as we are "oil dependent"....

[LizW]

8. I've been hearing the 40 year figure for a while now, too

Thom Hartmann's book, "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" opened my eyes. I've since read a lot of different experts, but the number is almost always 40 years or less.

We're living in the end times of oil right now. Wars over oil and vast schemes of price manipulation and hoarding were all predicted years ago, and we're living it now. The technology for sustainable energy is out there, and great minds are always working on it, but the oil industry cartels and the U.S. government are impeding the progress. We have some bad times to go through before it gets better.

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. I'm in agreement with you, so the big question left to ask is this:

If the oil heads like Exxon-Mobile, knew ahead of time that we needed to keep a good (i.e. diplomatic) relationship with the Middle East, then why was Cheney & Co. conspiring to do exactly the opposite and take everything by force? Who exactly was Cheney representing?

[Pachamama]

20. Himself & friends Pocketbooks/Wallets-He who has the control of Oil..

...over the next 20-40 years reaps the wealth...they don't give a rat's A** over diplomacy and what happens to the world after their done living their lives...

Anyone know if Exxon Mobil has any benefits in Iraq and whether they have contacts in Iraq or are on the dance card? We all know Helliburden is...

[HarveyBriggs]

21. Rather our enemies run out of oil before us.

I heard that from a former Iranian oil minister who is now teaching economics.

If the oil shortages of the 70s did not teach you a lesson on oil dependance, that is your fault. We will run out of oil, and we need to be prepared to accept alternatives.

Energy independance begins at home. We have coal, we have wind, we have sunshine, and we have millions of acres of fertile soil to grow energy. We also have bicycles, and the ability to switch off lights and turn thermostats.

Most of us also have an extra 20-50 pounds of energy sitting on our bellies or hips we can put to good use.

There will be a time when alternatives to oil and coal are less expensive to our pocketbooks, and less costly to our environment.

This nation has been spoiled into indolence and obesity because of cheap oil.

Let's be as dependant on other's oil as long as possible. And use the extra time that buys us to develop other sources of energy.

Harvey Briggs

[dusty64]

6. This IS a joke,

right?

[hatrack]

7. "U.S. Must Be Oil Dependent" might be a better head

It's also true. Saudi Arabia has about 25% of the world's proven reserves, Iraq 10% or 11%, and the United States about 3%. There's no way we will ever achieve oil independence - ever - and it's astonishing that Raymond is admitting this. It's the first time any oil major has said as much regarding the United States.

This is politically huge, because he's saying that chewing up the Rocky Mountain Front Range and poking holes in various national forests and grasslands and drilling in ANWR aren't going to make any difference. Wonder what Unca Dick is going to say about THAT.

However, "oil" and "energy" are not the same things. As other have already noted, if we put half as much into wind, solar, and conservation as we do into subsidizing oil & gas, we'd be in a lot better shape than we are now.

[KittyWampus]

9. A Little Comic Relief In LBN...

usually I look for Matcom's news blurbs in the Lounge... :)

[Khephra]

10. I have my own sense of irony and humor about posting in LBN

:hi:

[KittyWampus]

13. I'm Guessing Your "Chimps May Go Extint" Thread Is Included?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x609350

[Khephra]

15. That would be telling.

:evilgrin:

[Jack Rabbit]

11. This is the same guy who dismisses global warming

From the Wall Street Journal via Junkscience.com
Dated 2001

Exxon CEO Lee Raymond's Stance On Global Warming Causes a Stir
By Thaddeus Herrick
Staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal

Like his predecessors, Exxon Mobil Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Lee Raymond keeps a relatively low profile. He's reluctant to grant interviews and make public appearances. But ever since he assailed the Kyoto initiative to combat global warming in a speech a few years ago, Mr. Raymond has been inextricably linked to the issue.
Add to that his disdain for gay rights and his unflinching responses to critics of Exxon Mobil's business in repressive regimes, and Mr. Raymond comes off as a strikingly politically incorrect character for a modern-day, big-company CEO.
Mr. Raymond's stances have made for a rocky summer for Exxon Mobil. In July, ahead of a meeting of government officials in Bonn, Germany, to discuss rules for implementing the Kyoto pledge to cut greenhouse-gas emissions, activists staged dozens of demonstrations around the world to protest the company's stance on climate change. Some European Parliament members have joined an effort by environmentalists to boycott Exxon Mobil, and a "Stop Esso" effort in Britain (as the company brands its products there) has won the backing of celebrities such as Ralph Fiennes and Annie Lennox and companies including The Body Shop.

Raymond is among the most contemptuous of all corporate heads. That's saying a mouthfull.

Boycott Exxon.

[nolabels]

19. That guys resume must sure look good.

The OIL guy he is just might even make him over qualified to be the next appointed pResident for our oil junkie nation.

[ozymandius]

12. Junkie vernacular...

the Junkie must maintain "constructive relationships" with heroin-producing countries for its own prosperity.

This sounds like a pusher preaching to the addicted.

edit: kannott tipe or speel

[SOS]

14. Compeletly false

In the mid 1970s Carter introduced CAFE standards with increasing mpg requirements. By 1985 these standards were so successful that an oil glut became a problem for American oil companies. Remember the Texas oil bust?
In 1985, under pressure from Big Oil, Reagan did away with the CAFE standards. The standards have not been touched since and cars are now at their lowest mpg in 20 years.

If Reagan had left the Carter standards untouched, the US would have been free of ALL imported oil by 1991.

[Jack Rabbit]

16. Counterpoint--George Monbiot (Guardian Utd): Break out the bicycles

From the Guardian Unlimited (Uk)
Dated Tuesday June 8

Break out the bicycles
Oil is running out, but the west would rather wage wars than consider other energy sources
By George Monbiot

Some people have wacky ideas," the new Republican campaign ad alleges. "Like taxing gasoline more so people drive less. That's John Kerry." Cut to a shot of men in suits riding bicycles.
Sadly, the accusation is false. Kerry has been demanding that the price of oil be held down. He wants George Bush to release supplies from the strategic reserve and persuade Saudi Arabia to increase production. He has been warning the American people that if the president doesn't act soon, he and Dick Cheney will have to share a car to work. Men riding bicycles and sharing cars? Is there no end to this madness . . . ?
If the complexity of our economies is impossible to sustain, our best hope is to start to dismantle them before they collapse. This isn't very likely to happen. Faced with a choice between a bang and a whimper, our governments are likely to choose the bang, waging ever more extravagant wars to keep the show on the road. Terrorists, alert to both the west's rising need and the vulnerability of the pipeline and tanker networks, will respond with their own oil wars.
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle," HG Wells wrote, "I no longer despair for the human race." It's a start, but I'd feel even more confident about our chances of survival if I saw George Bush and Dick Cheney sharing a car to work.

Monbiot counters Raymond's self-serving lunacy with sanity and reason.

There is discussion of Monbiot's piece in the editorials forum.

[salin]

17. and we absolutely will not...

invest to get ahead of the curb, in alternative energy sources in order to corner that market, make a whole lot of money of ourselves and our shareholders, and help shepherd this country and the world into a new era...

[ProfessorGAC]

22. Gee Thanks, Captain Obvious!

Could he be any more predictable?
The Professor

[struggle4progress]

23. We couldn't possibly support anything that weans us from our oil!

[davidinalameda]

24. another reason not to buy at Exxon

so we're propping up dictators in the Middle East so Exxon can make a buck

lovely