The role of oil and gas in Europe

Global energy demand will continue to rise through 2040, reflecting its fundamental link to growing prosperity and better living standards for an increasing population worldwide. According to the IEA’s 2018 New Policy Scenarios, the increase in demand would be about twice as much if it were not for continued improvements in energy efficiency, which the IEA states is a powerful policy tool to address energy security and sustainability concerns. At the same time, natural gas will meet more than 80 percent of this increase in demand, according to the IEA’s 2018 Energy Outlook. 

Oil provides the raw materials (feedstock) that make creating essential products possible – from smartphones and vehicles, to insulation and textiles. Mechanical technologies, such as wind turbines, also require oil-based products, in the form of lubricants which enable them to operate smoothly. Oil will continue to be the primary source of energy for transportation and as a feedstock for chemicals. 

As energy demand for power generation accounts for about 50 percent of global demand growth, natural gas is reliable and efficient for baseload electricity generation. Its flexibility makes it well suited to meet peak demand and back-up intermittent renewables; and proven and emerging technologies could allow the use of gas to become carbon neutral, while preserving its cleaner burning properties and affordability. Demand for natural gas is expected to grow nearly 40 percent from 2016 to 2040, led by increasing use to help meet rising electricity demand with lower-emission fuels. 

Oil and gas together represent €420 billion in European government revenues (the equivalent of around 2.7 percent of EU GDP) and 1.1 million jobs. Europe and Asia Pacific account for about 85 percent of liquefied natural gas imports in 2016 and 95 percent of the growth from 2016 to 2040. Europe leverages competitive liquefied natural gas to diversify its natural gas import portfolio. 

Meeting growing demand for energy presents a tremendous challenge that requires a long-term view, significant investment, and continued innovation. ExxonMobil is a global leader in upstream business, including exploration, development, production, natural gas marketing and energy research. Continuing to incorporate best practices from across our global operations enables us to create and drive value for Europe. 

Read more about our upstream operations in Europe here.