Tillerson Says `Nationality of Energy’ Is Irrelevant

Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson said energy independence for the U.S. and other industrialized countries is impossible, and diverse sources of oil are needed to soften the impact of supply disruptions.

“The nationality of energy is irrelevant,” Tillerson, who heads the world’s largest oil company, said today during a panel discussion on global energy security in Calgary. “A diversity of sources mitigates the impact on total supply from disruptions in any region or from any one source.”
Eschewing oil imports would lead to protectionism and isolationism, said Tillerson, 55. “History shows this approach is often counterproductive, leads to inefficiencies, higher prices, supply shortages and at times even trade wars,” he said.

Tillerson, a University of Texas-trained engineer who joined Exxon Mobil in 1975, said Saudi Arabia has begun the process of boosting daily oil production to 12.5 million barrels. That would represent a 49 percent increase from the 8.37 million barrels produced daily during the second quarter, according to International Energy Agency figures.

The kingdom has doubled the number of rigs drilling new wells to about 120, he said. The state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco, is spending $1.50 to $2 to produce each barrel, he said.

Bloomberg