ExxonMobil: Green Company of the Year

Forbes ^ | 8/5/2009 | Christopher Helman

[bruinbirdman]

Oil from algae? Just a sideshow, Exxon's real thrust into green energy is a big bet on natural gas.

There are two ways for a big oil company to go green. There is the political approach and there is the engineer's approach. ExxonMobil (XOM) uses both.

Sea of green: In Qatar, Exxon is building the world's largest plants to make liquefied natural gas

Purely political: the grand announcement in July that ExxonMobil would put $600 million into algae farms that would turn sunlight into automotive fuel. It takes a leap of faith to think tanks of algae can compete with oil wells, even allowing for the advantage that biofuels would have in a world of carbon permits (or carbon taxes). But the algae project buys ExxonMobil some peace with environmentalists. Since taking the helm in 2006, ExxonMobil boss Rex W. Tillerson has worked hard to soften the company's stance on climate change; he is not as gruff and forceful as his predecessor Lee R. Raymond in dismissing global-warming alarmists.

The engineering solution to the matter of carbon in the atmosphere: Drill for natural gas. Per unit of energy delivered, methane releases 40% to 50% less carbon dioxide than coal and a quarter less than petroleum. Coal fuels half of U.S. power generation. Replacing all of it with methane would cut CO2 emissions by 1 billion tons a year. Could windmills come close to that in reducing greenhouse gases? Not easily. To get the same emissions reduction you would have to replace half of power plant coal with 80,000 giant turbines covering 400,000 acres of ground. "Natural gas is the answer to green-energy low-carbon concerns," says Neil Duffin, president of ExxonMobil's project development company.

ExxonMobil's bet on natural gas best comes into focus 7,900 miles away from

[The Pack Knight]

Strange that they briefly mentioned ConocoPhillips, but not the fact that they’re easily the most heavily invested in gas of the three big American oil companies. That’s translated to a lower P/E than ExxonMobil or Chevron right now, but I have a feeling it will pay off.

Forget the green stuff, expending into gas is just good business right now. The price has been hit hard, which means the last few months have been a good buying opportunity. Probably more upside than oil going forward.

[Ben Ficklin]

"Strange that they"

It's also strange because this is very old news.

Exxon, and Shell, entered into this Qatar contract in 2002 and the project is behind schedule.

Most recent news regarding Exxon and NG is the decision to develop the Piceance basin in Colorado.