Despite the many foreseeable challenges in the future of the oil and gas industry, there is much cause for optimism, says Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive of ExxonMobil. "Our challenges are great, but our opportunities are greater," he said at the recent Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference in Houston. "We have to reaffirm our understanding of the fundamental realities of our industry and share them with the public. One of the realities that is often overlooked by the public is our record of achievement. The story of human progress parallels the advancement of the energy industry." ExxonMobil has invested $82 billion on six continents, has consistently reinvested its earnings, and is constantly innovating, but these contributions are often misunderstood by the public. "The public today doesn't see our product as being innovative or particularly advanced when they compare it with cell phones or plasma TVs, so they don't understand why prices change for a product they perceive to be the same as what their parents and their grandparents bought," he said. For more on this, see the March issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.

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