Oil Execs Debate 'New Era' After Recent Crises

摘要

The Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur last week was ambitiously themed "Beyond the New Reality," but there was little consensus on what was actually new about the current state of affairs. The idea, presumably, was to explore how tumultuous events such as the financial crisis and, more recently, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, would change the dynamics of the industry going forward. But Exxon Mobil Senior Vice President Andrew Swiger summed it up best by dismissing any suggestion that the industry was entering a new era, saying both events are merely "emblematic of the enormous challenges that have long characterized" the industry (PIW Jun.7,p1). While acknowledging that the oil spill in the US was a wake-up call to be ever vigilant on safety and environmental issues, the larger concern was on how the moratorium on deepwater drilling would affect oil supply and prices globally (p7).