The head of Exxon’s low-carbon business has a response to critics who say the oil behemoth isn’t putting enough resources into climate-friendly projects: money isn’t what matters most right now, Ben writes.

What he’s saying: “The limiting factor, at this stage, in terms of the ability to scale up this business … is not the availability of capital,” Dan Ammann tells me.

  • “The limiting factor is actually figuring out these projects, piecing them together, getting them to work, finding the right customers.”

🖼️ The big picture: Ammann says Exxon’s doing that as it focuses on carbon capture, hydrogen and biofuels. But the oil behemoth isn’t following European majors into renewable power development.

🗞️ Driving the news: Exxon yesterday announced a deal with industrial gases giant Linde to capture CO2 from a planned hydrogen plant in Texas. It’s the latest of several recent deals with partners like fertilizer maker CF Industries and Honeywell.

Catch up fast: In the medium-term, Exxon plans to cumulatively spend roughly $7 billion through 2027 on projects with industrial partners and $10 billion to cut emissions from its own operations.

Reality check: That’s a small share of overall investments that mostly flow to their oil, gas and fuels businesses. Exxon’s planned capital spending is $20-$25 billion annually through 2027.

  • And scientists caution that growing fossil fuel production — which Exxon’s doing — collides with climate goals.

Yes, but: Exxon says it’s positioned to be a key player in commercializing tech at scale in hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors.

  • “The project execution capability here is incredibly powerful,” Ammann, a former GM exec, tells me.
  • “If you need a multibillion dollar project built, this is the place to come and get that done.”

What’s next: In our interview Monday and an investor presentation yesterday, Ammann and execs, including CEO Darren Woods, detailed Exxon’s plans.

📈 Scale: Exxon sees a huge opportunity in energy transition, a $6 trillion addressable market in the areas where it’s focused by 2050.

  • Their share could be measured in the hundreds of billions, and “quite possibly larger than Exxon’s base business is today as the world approaches net-zero,” Ammann told investors and analysts.
  • They see potential for double-digit returns in a market less cyclical than oil and gas.

📝 Policy: The U.S. climate law, which expands incentives for low-carbon energy, is “opening up the funnel for an increased number of projects that are now economically viable to pursue,” Ammann told me.

  • Still, after a few years of “foundational projects,” they see more policy support needed — and significant reductions in emissions-cutting costs — to move the global market to hundreds of billions and ultimately trillions of dollars. Page 11 of their new investor deck spells this out.

The bottom line: A year into his tenure, Ammann sees corporate weight behind him.

  • Asked how much he speaks to CEO Darren Woods, Ammann replied: “A lot.”