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Exxon Says Watch for Oil Shocks as Demand Becomes Market Driver

  • Consumption growth is boosting crude prices: Exxon CEO Woods
  • Return to $40 a barrel oil a possibility if demand tails off
Texas Oil Fields As U.S. Flexes Refining Muscles
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
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Soaring demand is the main reason for the rebound in oil prices -- but if the economy falters, crude could tumble back to $40 a barrel, according to Exxon Mobil Corp.

Cuts by OPEC countries have helped, but economic expansion is what’s “really driving demand at levels much higher than recent history,” Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said Wednesday in a presentation to analysts in New York.