Oil industry CEOs on clean energy transition: You still need us

• "I understand that publicly admitting that oil and gas will play an essential and significant role during the transition and beyond will be hard for some."
• "But admitting this reality will be far easier than dealing with energy insecurity, rampant inflation and social unrest as the prices become intolerably high and seeing net zero commitments by countries start to unravel."
• CEOs of Exxon, Chevron and Equinor emphasized long-term demand even as they touted emissions efforts, per Reuters and the WSJ.

The intrigue: The industry's posture comes amid growing activist and investor pressure to act more aggressively on climate.