Politics

Exxon Chief: U.S. Nears Energy Self-Sufficiency

By Ben Geman and National Journal
LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST, CA - AUGUST 4:  Oil rigs pump at sunrise on August 4, 2004 north of the Los Padres National Forest, California. The Bush administration is pushing to undo a Clinton-era decision that put 58.5 million acres of national forests off-limits to development, especially in road-less areas. The new plan would allow the nation's governors to help decide whether road-less areas in their own states will be opened to logging or other commercial activities. California's 4 million acres of road-less forests represent about 4 percent of the state's land. Between 1979 and 1998, the Los Padres National Forest lost 130,067 acres of road-less land to development, the largest loss of road-less resources of any national forest in California, and contains developed gas and oil deposits.  (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) (National Journal)

Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said the U.S. is getting close to reaching a major energy-security milestone.

"I think it is realistic that the U.S. could be energy self-sufficient, energy secure by the end of this decade," Tillerson said in an interview with CNBC.

He cited record U.S. natural-gas production and surging crude-oil production.

Also in the interview, Tillerson said there's good news and bad news about China's shale-gas resources.

"By every geological assessment that I've ever seen, they are larger than the U.S. However, there are a number of attributes in China's shale-gas reserves that make them particularly challenging," he said.

The Chinese resources are deep underground and often in remote regions that lack infrastructure to support development, and some are in regions where there isn't much water available, he said.

Tillerson also touched on Federal Reserve policy and the U.S. economy. Check out the story and a video clip here.