Even though oil and gas companies are increasingly focusing on reducing the environmental impact of their operations with aggressive efforts centered on the narrative of energy transition, they aren’t going to move away from fossil fuels, at least over the next few decades, according to Dr. Jerry Bailey, director of Petroteq Energy and former president of Exxon Arabian Gulf.

“Oil companies are not going to move from oil, that’s what got them where they are,” Bailey said in a recent interview with Hart Energy’s Faiza Rizvi.

“Oil companies have an important and lucrative niche in this regard. There is no reason to transition away from that. There are enough companies working in the other arenas that can cover those types of things,” he said, referring to renewable energy.