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Darren Woods

Chairman of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer, ExxonMobil

Search every verified Darren Woods interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, addressed the company's second-quarter 2026 earnings call, acknowledging the ongoing Middle East conflict and its impact on employees, partners, and operations in the region. He stated that the company does not attempt to predict geopolitical developments but instead focuses on ensuring business resilience. Woods also discussed the company's exploration activities in Guyana, saying that AI tools trained on existing discoveries have identified new opportunities and that the organization is focused on maximizing the value of the acreage for ExxonMobil and the government and people of Guyana. He described discussions with the government of Kazakhstan as very early, noting the company sees a significant opportunity to help grow production there. In a separate interview, Woods commented on the oil market, saying there is a disconnect between crude prices and pump prices due to refining capacity constraints. He cited the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, China's halt on exports, and losses to Russian refining capacity as factors reducing available supply, and said he expects a robust refining market with high margins until capacity is restored. Woods also criticized proposed EU penalties on companies importing products, saying the company does not choose which laws to follow based on penalty size and that an EU law requiring imports to meet a January 2027 standard cannot be met. He noted that ExxonMobil previously canceled planned European investments following a windfall profits tax and is suing the EU over what it considers an illegal taking. In earlier remarks from the fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call, Woods highlighted the company's carbon capture and storage capabilities and discussed a lawsuit against the California Attorney General and activist groups over its advanced recycling business.

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Notable quotes

“We were expropriated in the past; if you don't uphold the sanctity of contracts and instead steal the investments that we made, we can't continue to work with you.”

“The markets are well supplied, so you've got a comfortable supply of oil, which is why we haven't seen a lot of volatility in oil despite the geopolitical dynamics.”

“To give you one example, the subsidy that the government is giving for electric vehicles works out to be about $900 per ton of CO2 removed. If you look at the subsidy the government is giving to reduce for carbon capture and storage, it's $85 a ton.”

“The thing that I find amazing is if you think about climate change in limiting CO2 emissions today, there is no mechanism to account for CO2. So my first question is if you want to eliminate it, which we're committed to doing, how can you do it if you're not accounting for it?”

“With the invitation of the Venezuelan government and with appropriate security guarantees we are ready to put a team on the ground there.”

“If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it's uninvestable and so significant changes have to be made to those commercial frameworks and the legal system. There has to be durable investment protections and there has to be a change to the hydrocarbon laws in the country.”

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