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By Valerie Volcovici and Sheila Dang
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. oil and gas producers are thrilled that President Donald Trump wants to encourage domestic energy development but say his decision to withdraw the United States from international climate cooperation will not help their investment plans in the global transition to cleaner energy.
The position reflects a rare note of discord between Trump and Big Oil, one of his most important constituencies and long considered the top villain behind climate change for pumping and selling the fossil fuels driving planetary warming.
Removing the United States from the Paris climate deal for the second time was among a flurry of first-day moves by Trump aimed at pumping up already record high domestic energy production, sending a signal to the rest of the world the U.S. will no longer engage in multilateral efforts to combat climate change.
He called the decade-old pact to limit global warming a "rip off" that puts the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage to China.
Big U.S. oil companies, however, believe the withdrawal only limits Washington's ability to influence an ongoing global energy transition and exposes them to an uneven regulatory environment, according to Reuters interviews with industry representatives.
Marty Durbin, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Energy Institute representing U.S. energy companies, said its members would have preferred Trump keep the U.S. involved in the pact.
"While we prefer that the U.S. government remain engaged in the UN climate process, the private sector is committed to developing the solutions necessary to meet the energy needs of a growing global economy while addressing the climate challenge," he said.
Bethany Williams, a spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute - whose members include Exxon Mobil and Chevron - said the group has "long supported the ambitions of the Paris Agreement."
Exxon's CEO Darren Woods had made an early plea to the newly-elected president at the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in November to keep the U.S. in the Paris pact, saying the cycle of exiting and re-entering the agreement would create long-term policy uncertainty for companies.
Exxon and other big oil companies are planning long-term investments in technologies intended to fight climate change, including green hydrogen and carbon capture, while also navigating decisions about new oil and gas exploration.
Exxon and Occidental did not respond to requests for comment. Chevron and ConocoPhillips declined to comment.