Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Darren Woods ratcheted up condemnation of the European Union's energy policy while praising U.S. President Donald Trump's approach.
The Texas oil and gas titan is retreating from investment in Europe and selling assets, with Woods declaring the bloc's climate and human rights regulations "slowing things down and trying to over-prescribe impractical" solutions.
He was highlighting rigorous criticism he had a month ago of the EU's "bone-crushing" Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
Trump, on the other hand, had presented "a more balanced discussion" and "a very clear recognition of the critical role that energy plays in economic growth and in the daily prosperity of people," Woods explained at the Energy Intelligence Forum conference in London on Monday.
Even with this political backing, Woods told the audience that Exxon concerns that expansion of U.S. shale oil production is slowing down. This could change if operators are able to capture more than 10% of the oil trapped in shale reservoirs - roughly the current rate of recovery, he added.
Exxon's return to Iraq, where it signed an agreement over the Majnoon oil field last week, has yet to have a "long road ahead of us before anything materializes," he said.