In a fireside chat during National Clean Energy Week, Mark Menezes, President and CEO of the United States Energy Association (USEA) and former Deputy Secretary of Energy, and Erik Oswald, Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at ExxonMobil, dove into the future of global energy and the role of both traditional and innovative solutions in the ongoing energy transition.

Menezes began by highlighting the important role of USEA – a nonprofit organization that serves as a comprehensive energy sector resource and international development partner. It convenes energy stakeholders to share policy, scientific, and technological information, and promote global energy development with a focus on safe, affordable and sustainable energy.

Oswald offered data and insight from ExxonMobil’s recent Global Outlook, a report that provides projections about the energy landscape through 2050. The company predicts a stable oil production level of around 100 million barrels per day, with demand for traditional, reliable and affordable oil and gas continuing. He also acknowledged the challenges in meeting Paris Agreement emissions targets, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors like industrial, power and commercial transportation.

Oswald pointed out that ExxonMobil has created a low-carbon solutions division with a focus on three key areas: carbon capture and storage (CCS), clean hydrogen and lithium. The company plans to invest approximately $20 billion in low-carbon solutions through 2027. Oswald shared information about their clean hydrogen project at the Baytown refinery near Houston, set to become the world’s largest clean hydrogen facility, and expected to produce a billion cubic feet of blue hydrogen daily. The project aims to leverage tax incentives and explore emerging markets, particularly in clean ammonia for power generation in Asia and Europe.

Because permitting for these efforts is a significant challenge, especially for carbon capture and storage projects, Oswald emphasized the need for more efficient permitting processes, particularly for Class 6 injection wells. This is especially notable as ExxonMobil’s recent acquisition of Denbury has positioned them to develop the largest CO2 pipeline system, with plans to capture and sequester 5.5 million tons of CO2 annually from industrial emitters along the Gulf Coast.

This critical discussion underscored the complexity of the energy transition, highlighting the continued importance of traditional energy sources while simultaneously investing in innovative low-carbon solutions to address global emissions challenges.