The 23rd World Petroleum Conference kicked off Dec. 6 in Houston, with over 5,000 attendees from 70 countries, according to World Oil magazine.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner welcomed the conference to the city.
“Houston and Houston’s energy-related firms are leading the way in the energy evolution,” Turner said during opening remarks, according to the magazine.
David M. Turk, deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, outlined the meeting's goal at the beginning of the conference.
“First we need to accelerate the clean energy transition. Second, that all people have affordable and reliable energy during this transition,” Turk said, according to World Oil. "American people, companies and government can take on climate head on together, and we have to.”
Executives from Chevron and ExxonMobil also spoke at the conference, restating their companies' positions that the world will have to continue to rely on fossil fuels while societies transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy sources, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“The growth of emissions-free energy is good for society and an objective our company supports,” ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said. “The fact remains that under most critical scenarios, including net-zero pathways, oil and natural gas will continue to play a significant role in meeting society’s needs.”
Woods, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and Jeff Miller – chairman, president and CEO of Halliburton – spoke about the importance of technology, investments, government policy and collaboration. They told conference attendees that they shared concerns over climate change and what their companies were doing to help mitigate it.
Exxon and Chevron are investing in carbon capture and storage, as well as hydrogen and biofuels, the Houston Chronicle reported, moves that demonstrate the oil industry's stance that the world will choose fossil fuels for their affordability and reliability. But Big Oil will need to figure out how to mitigate harmful carbon emissions, they said.
Chevron's Wirth pointed to skyrocketing energy prices as a cautionary tale against rushing the energy transition at the cost of reliability, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“The world needs affordable, reliable and ever cleaner energy every day. It’s indispensable in today’s global economy,” Wirth said. “Our products make the world run, and we can make it run even better.”
Dave Lawler, chairman and president of BP Americas, said collaboration is key to a successful transition to a carbon-free future, the Houston Chronicle reported.
"We can see a warm future that we all can be a part of, and we can see net zero by 2050," Lawler said.