Former ExxonMobil campus entrance, rain-slicked pavement, overcast day.
ExxonMobil is warning that crude oil prices could skyrocket as high as $160 per barrel in the coming weeks. The warning comes as the company’s shareholders approved a plan to move its legal home from New Jersey to Texas.
Neil Chapman, ExxonMobil’s Senior Vice President, issued the warning at the Bernstein Conference in New York. He cited dwindling commercial inventories as the primary driver for the potential price surge.
“We’re approaching unheard of inventory levels,” Chapman said. “I mean really, really low levels… Once you get to that point, then you’ll see prices shoot up.”
Chapman explained that the release of strategic petroleum reserves by various nations had temporarily kept prices low. However, he believes this mitigation is unsustainable.
Dated Brent, the primary benchmark for crude oil, could jump significantly, Chapman warned: “[It] will shoot up… up to $150, $160.”
This message coincided with ExxonMobil shareholders approving a plan to move the company’s legal home to Texas. CEO Darren Woods cited Texas’ strong regulatory environment as a key factor.
“Aligning our legal home with our operating home, in a state that understands our business and has a stake in the company’s success, is important,” Woods said in a statement.
ExxonMobil has already moved its headquarters to Texas in 1989, and the majority of its U.S.-based workforce is already located in the state.
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