Thinking On Paper Burning Earth: How AI Helps Big Oil Drill More
Exxon and Chevron are using Microsoft AI to extract more oil. Faster. Cheaper. The goal: every last drop.
Holly and Will Alpine (Enabled Emissions) paint a stark picture with Microsoft's own numbers:
Exxon deal: 50,000 barrels/day = 6.4 million tonnes CO₂/year
Chevron deal: 400,000 barrels/day = 51 million tonnes CO₂/year
Microsoft's entire FY23 footprint: 17 million tonnes.
Carbon removal booked over 15 years: 5 million tonnes.
Those two deals alone dwarf both numbers.
In Saudi Arabia, Aramco's CEO says AI kept production costs at $3/barrel for two decades. AI makes fossil fuels competitive. It weakens clean energy economics.
AI touches every stage of fossil fuel: exploration, drilling, extraction, refining, distribution.
We talk about:
- How AI cuts production costs 10% while boosting reserves 5%
- Why US oil production tripled since 2007 (AI is a major factor)
- Projects that took 18 months now take 2 weeks
- How aging oil fields stay profitable decades longer
- Why Microsoft's "energy principles" are meaningless (they ignore Scope 3)
- What guardrails could look like (restrict exploration/extraction, allow safety/methane reduction)
Holly and Will left Microsoft to start Enabled Emissions. They're not asking companies to break contracts. They're asking for reasonable guardrails.
The lie you're fed: AI will solve climate change.
The truth: AI is accelerating fossil fuel extraction.
It's ugly. It's real. Learn more.
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Guests: Holly & Will Alpine, Founders Enabled Emissions (Former Microsoft)
Topics: AI, climate, oil, emissions, Microsoft, Exxon, Chevron, Aramco, enabled emissions
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