ExxonMobil and Chevron have both declined to set long-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, saying they are not useful in a global context. While the companies have shorter-term targets for the reduction of fugitive emissions of methane and flaring, they argue, somewhat implicitly, that companies such as BP and Repsol, which have set net-zero 2050 greenhouse gas emissions targets, would achieve them by selling parts of their business off. Such sales may put the assets in the hands of companies who would do a lesser job of reducing emissions from those assets, meaning that the company goal would be ineffective in a global sense. While that is a reasonable argument, a little doubt is invited by it being made at the same time that the executives emphasise the financial returns to be made from the oil and gas business, with Darren Woods, Exxon chief executive, telling the New York Stock Exchange that “we want to ensure that we’re well-positioned for the inevitable upswing as growth in demand outstrips current supply”. The announcements also highlight the gulf between oil and gas companies on either side of the Atlantic, with European companies increasingly setting more long-term targets than their US counterparts. Eni announced at the end of February that it would peak its oil and gas production by 2025 and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, while Premier Oil has said it will make its operations carbon neutral by 2030.