But Exxon insists it is taking practical actions to reduce emissions. A spokesman said that Kyoto would "impose dramatic economic costs in the developed world" while failing to tackle the emissions from the developing world. While the political commitment to the Kyoto process and targets is quite strong in Europe, attaining those targets is going to be very challenging, given the energy supply and demand realities. The company points to "uncertainties" in the science and funds a number of think tanks and academics that have questioned the research. The EU has committed itself to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which are blamed for global warming, to 8 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.Mr Raymond said: "I also think there will be a need to be realistic about environmental targets.
Exxon extracts 15 per cent of the oil and gas supplied from the UK continental shelf in the North Sea. Speaking at a dinner on Wednesday night at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, to mark the International Petroleum Week conference organised by the Energy Institute, a trade body, Mr Raymond said the UK's tax and regulatory regimes needed to be more competitive. Mr Raymond predicted wind and solar energy would provide just 1 per cent of global requirements in 2030.Unlike Shell and BP, Exxon opposes the Kyoto treaty - many saw its hand behind the decision taken by the Bush administration in 2001 to pull out of Kyoto. He said fossils fuels remained the only way of meeting those needs, in particular from new sources of gas. The head of ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company, has warned Europe that "a reality check" is needed over its commitment to the Kyoto treaty on climate change.
He declared that the targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions set by Europe, which is leading the world in the implementation of Kyoto, would prove very difficult to achieve.Mr Raymond also took a swipe at the British Government's tax policy for North Sea operators. Mr Raymond said that, to those calling for windfall taxes to be applied to the multi-billion pound profits now being made by oil majors, "I would remind them that ours is a long-term business and that project lives often exceed 20 years".Exxon, which also trades as Esso in this country, has never accepted the mainstream science on global warming that led to the signing of the Kyoto treaty in 1997. He said the costs of operating in the UK continental shelf were among the highest in the world."We have only to look back to the tax changes made in the UK North Sea in 2002 to see the interruption that subsequently took place in exploration."In the 2002 Budget, an extra 10 per cent tax was applied to oil companies operating in the UK part of the North Sea. There is zero impact on B&Q from whatever is happening in China," Mr Murphy said.In the international operations, there was better news and Kingfisher insisted it would meet City expectations for the overall group for 2005.In France, trading at Kingfisher's Brico-Depot chain was up 16 per cent on a like-for-like basis, although this was offset by a 0.9 per cent decline at Castorama, which was blamed on store refits and product relaunches.Elsewhere, with the exception of Poland, overseas sales grew strongly, with Italy and China doing particularly well.Analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said: "We like Kingfisher's international growth strategy but greater attention needs to be applied to the core business.". Mr Murphy denied suggestions that Kingfisher had become distracted by its global operations, which stretch from Poland to China "We run our international businesses quite differently We have strong manage- ment teams in each market.
