EXXONMOBIL Corp will not cut its investments in oil and gas exploration and production despite the current slump in the price of crude oil, its senior vice-president Mark W. Albers said.

"We will meet all our exploration commitments and our long-term plan will not change," he told reporters after presenting a luncheon talk on the sidelines of the International Petroleum Technology Conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

He said ExxonMobil's investment decision is not based on today's price of crude but through a cycle of several decades on what the price range could be.

Earlier in his speech at the luncheon talk, Albers said the rapid rise and fall of energy prices is part of the cyclical nature of the energy industry.

"Our business model is based on rigorous and realistic long-term planning, enabling us to navigate the ups and downs of the business cycle," he said.

Notwithstanding current market conditions, Albers said global energy demand will continue to rise in the longer term.

Most experts predict that worldwide demand will rise by about 30 per cent by 2030, with most of the new demand coming from the developing world, he added.

"It is clear that oil and natural gas will continue to supply most of the world's energy, meeting about 60 per cent of demand for the foreseeable future.

"Thankfully, there are sufficient hydrocarbon resources to meet this rising demand," he said.

Albers said the world's total untapped oil resources, including unconventional resources such as oil shale and heavy oil, are estimated at more than four trillion barrels or four times what has been consumed in human history so far.