In Denial, Oil Executives Start Peddling Filtered Cigarettes

In Denial, Oil Executives Start Peddling Filtered Cigarettes

There is no longer any question about whether the oil and gas industry will decline. It will. The question is, which oil companies will join the energy transition, and which will milk their cow until it dies? If oil executives wait too long, the decision will be made for them.

Many remain in denial and claim that their oil will be in demand for decades to come. They cannot face the idea of their industry becoming irrelevant on their watch.

Oil executives can still use their balance sheets to reinvent their organizations for the energy industry of the future—but only once. Any hesitation will be at their peril. Their predicament comes down to three factors: market conditions, OPEC+ geopolitics and the electrification of everything, including automobiles.

Filtered Cigarettes

In 2020, the global oil and gas sector shed more than 400,000 jobs, half of which were in the United States. Even so, ExxonMobil is doubling down. Ejected from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Exxon promised to pump 25% more fossil fuels by 2025, only to backtrack in December after announcing $17 to $20 billion in write-downs and a waffly pledge to reduce operational carbon emissions by 20% in five years. Losing half your