On the virtual stage of the Engineering and Construction Contracting Association’s annual conference Oct. 1, ENR interviewed Neil Duffin, president of ExxonMobil Global Projects Co. Duffin said the energy business has been “shaken more than it has ever been shaken before.” For example, ExxonMobil itself announced in April a 30% cut in capital investments for 2020 due to decreased oil demand, moving from $33 billion to $23 billion in projects.
ENR: It’s been a “what can happen next” kind of year. What were the biggest challenges?
Duffin: We call these unprecedented times—whether it be the pandemic and the impact that had on the marketplace [or] the fact that we had the debate going on between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the flooding of the market and the drop in price, and the drop in margins in the fuels, lubes and chemical business. The challenge … was that all aspects of the business took a bit of a beating, whether it be the upstream crude and gas prices or the margins in fuels, lubes and chemicals. The cash flow wasn’t there to reinvest into the business that we had planned as we moved into 2020.
ENR: Has it presented opportunities?
Duffin: This has had an impact across all sectors—national oil companies, [independent oil companies] and engineering contractors. It’s an opportunity for us to get together, understand risk and look forward. We’re going to come out of this stronger and more resilient so we can compete in a cyclical environment that is not as it has been in the past.
ENR: Are you changing the way you are doing business?
Duffin: Much better collaboration up front, much better understanding of the risk, and out of that will come the better contracting strategies.
ENR: Specific project examples?
Duffin：在某些项目中，我们18luck官网已经停止了，但并非全部。有些人继续与我们的合作伙伴Sabic（德克萨斯州的180万吨乙烷饼干）一样，继续前进。但是在一些炼油厂项目中，我们决定停下18个18luck官网月的停顿。我们仍在完成民事工程，我们将安全地将其升级。老实说，我们发现生产力的提高，因为我们已经摆脱了热量。
ENR: This has also been a year of social pressures, among them the movement for racial justice. Do you see a drive toward diversity?
Duffin：毫无疑问。我将其作为核心价值观的一部分 - 将来自各个背景的人培养到我们的组织中，以便我们可以捕获不同的思考过程。全球最近的事件带来了这一点。
新利luckENR：市场什么时候可以转身？
Duffin: We need to take this time to get ourselves more efficient. We will come out of this, but our program is deliberately slim again next year. The fundamentals are telling us that 2022 plus is when the industry will see a bigger pickup.
