ExxonMobil Senior Vice President, Andy Swiger, told a conference in the Middle East that oil producers will need to look to partnerships and innovation to meet carbon emission and climate change pressures.
Swiger's keynote speech stated that international and national oil companies need to work closely together, and with host governments, to secure a "high-energy, low-carbon future, ensuring that the evolution of energy continues to demonstrate the best of human ingenuity and achievement".
More specifically, Swigler identified three key areas of innovation that could help to meet the challenges faced by the industry in they coming years, namely: carbon capture storage, algae biofuels and enhanced energy efficiency.
ExxonMobil has been one of a number of majors involved in algae and biofuel development and has also invested heavily in a carbon capture system called Controlled Freeze Zone™ which separates CO2 from natural gas and liquifying the product for underground storage.
Swigler stated that national governments and oil producers had a key role to play in encouraging best practice with regulatory frameworks offering fair risk and reward to producers.