We are continuing India Week with a great friend and industry leader, Monte Dobson. Monte is the CEO and Lead Country Manager of ExxonMobil India and was appointed to the role in October 2021. Prior to his current adventure in India, Monte led technology development for unconventional resources in Exxon's upstream solutions business and was extensively involved in developing Exxon's Permian oil position. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to visit with him and hear about his experience in India and the work Exxon is doing to advance India's energy independence, energy growth, and energy transition. 

Monte first set the stage with some of his high-level impressions of India and key data points to get a snapshot of the country. As you may know, India is experiencing rapid growth in the economy (projected to be third largest economy by 2030) and has 1.4 billion in population with a median population age of 28 years. In our conversation, we touch on the talent ecosystem and recruiting for talent in Bengaluru (Bangalore), three business areas in the country that ExxonMobil is working to progress, taxation considerations with natural gas, whether India will increase its domestic production and its overall level of energy imports, the three pillars of security/reliability, affordability, and emissions, the ease of doing business in India, the keys to success, and more. We end with Monte's vision of energy in India in ten years and could have continued for much longer had it not been late in Bengaluru.  

We had a quick upfront discussion:  Mike Bradley shared a brief market and commodity update and flagged the SCOTUS ruled in favor of West Virginia in the case of West Virginia vs. the EPA.  Colin Fenton shared macro insights as we wrap the first half of the year and looked at gas supply data for the US. 

The Veriten team had a great week learning more about India and we are excited to continue to expand our knowledge of the challenges and opportunities of energy and the environment in the developing world. If you missed Tuesday's episode featuring Sunita Narain with India's Center for Science and the Environment.