DALLAS — Exxon Mobil Corp. said Monday that it expects global energydemand to rise 50 percent by 2030 with oil, natural gas and coal remainingdominant because they are the only fuels abundant and versatile enough to meetgrowing needs.
Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. oil company, said it expected oil and gasto provide about 60 percent of the world’s energy, while total fossil fuels,including coal, should remain around 80 percent.
In the “very long term,” the energy supply will become more diversified,the company said in its annual report filed with the Securities and ExchangeCommission.
Environmentalists have long criticized Irving-based Exxon Mobil, accusingit of opposing efforts to regulate burning of fossil fuels, which manyscientists believe is linked to rising global temperatures.
Exxon Mobil’s annual report indicates the company has not changed itsposition, even as the Kyoto accord on global warming took effect – without U.S.ratification – in February.
Exxon Mobil, which earned a record $25.33 billion in operating profitslast year and recently eclipsed General Electric Co. as the largest U.S.corporation by stock market value, also said it is in good position to make”substantial investments to develop new energy supplies.”
However, Exxon Mobil operated 8.5 percent fewer wells at the end of 2004than it did a year earlier. The company increased its undeveloped acreage by 17percent, with most of the rise in Africa and South America.
The company said it expects global energy demand to grow 1.7 percent ayear through 2030, fueled by economic growth of nearly 3 percent a year. Itsaid oil demand would grow 1.5 percent a year but use of gas would grow evenfaster, mostly to meet electricity demand that it expects to double by 2030.