'Unlikely': Exxon leader suggests Trump's 'drill, baby, drill' chant was empty promise

Donald Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill” campaign promise was empty words that are not expected to have any impact on output in the U.S., an industry leader said Tuesday.

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Upstream President Liam Mallon said he expects nothing to change when Trump moves into the White House.

“I think a radical change is unlikely because the vast majority, if not everybody, is primarily focused on the economics of what they’re doing,” Mallon said at London conference, Bloomberg reported.

Trump promised to use more federal land for oil and gas production — though much of the U.S.’ oil and gas reserves are on private land, the report stated.

“If those rules were substantially changed, you would be able to drill more, assuming you have the quality and met your economic threshold,” Mallon said. “But I don’t think we’re going to see anybody in the drill, baby, drill mode. I really don’t.”

The U.S.’ crude oil production is already higher than any other nation, and has gone up by 45% in the past decade, Bloomberg reported.

But that didn’t stop Trump making his “drill, baby, drill” chant central to his campaign.

As well as emphasizing increased domestic oil and gas production as a means to achieve energy independence, He pledged to roll back environmental regulations and support the fossil fuel industry, vowing to make the U.S. the "dominant energy producer in the world."

Bloomberg reported, “Mallon’s comments mark the second time since the election that the largest US oil company has diverged from Trump’s policies. Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods discouraged the president-elect from withdrawing the US from the Paris climate pact, arguing that it’s better to participate and push for “common sense” carbon-cutting policy.”