Rex Tillerson interview

In an exclusive interview with the Times Record News, ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Red Tillerson provided his views on oil and energy issues facing the United States.

On $3 gasoline

“You have $3 a gallon gasoline, which a lot of people don’t like. I don’t like it. Believe it or not, I don’t like it because it brings a lot of the kind of negative discussions that are occurring with policymakers. It causes government to do things that are not in the long term best interests of the consumers because they’re reacting to the fact that people don’t like it.

“But the truth of the matter is, it’s not having the kind of effect on their pocketbook in order to make them change their behavior. Gasoline demand today is higher than it’s ever been. Even at $3 it’s not sufficient to cause people to do anything any different other than really complain a lot about it.

“If you look at the cost of energy as a percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in this country, it’s been declining for the past 20 years. That’s because of energy efficiency. If you look at cost as a percent of disposable income to consumers, that’s also going down.

“Now clearly there’s a segment of our society where $3 a gallon gasoline is a huge problem. We all worry about that segment of our society where it is, in fact, impacting their ability to work, to get their children to school.

Times Record News