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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Yes: Microsoft publicly announced technology partnerships with ExxonMobil and Chevron that included support for oil-and-gas exploration and production. The Atlantic later reported that internal Microsoft materials and interviews described broader efforts to sell technology to fossil fuel companies. At the same time, Microsoft reports environmental commitments and renewable-energy contracts, while its 2025 sustainability reporting shows total emissions above its 2020 baseline. Those facts establish a real tension, but they do not reveal a complete list of Microsoft’s fossil-fuel contracts or prove the net climate effect of the work.
What did Microsoft announce with oil companies?
Microsoft’s public announcements establish that its work with the oil and gas sector was not limited to general-purpose cloud services. The 2019 releases described applications for exploration and production, alongside operational efficiency and emissions-related uses.
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ExxonMobil and XTO Energy: Permian operations
On February 22, 2019, Microsoft announced that Dynamics 365, Azure, machine learning and Internet of Things technologies would be applied to ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy’s Permian Basin operations. The planned work included analyzing drilling and completions, using field data, and improving access to emissions data so teams could respond to methane leaks more quickly.
Microsoft said the collaboration was expected to improve capital efficiency and could support production growth of up to 50,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day by 2025. That was a forecast in the announcement, not a reported measurement of production achieved. Staale Gjervik, then XTO Energy’s senior vice president of Permian Integrated Development, said the technology would “help drive growth in the Permian.”
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Chevron and Schlumberger: exploration-and-production applications
On September 17, 2019, Microsoft announced a collaboration with Chevron and Schlumberger to build Azure-native applications within Schlumberger’s DELFI cognitive exploration-and-production environment, initially for Chevron. The companies described planned cognitive-computing capabilities across the exploration-and-production value chain. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the work reflected an opportunity to bring cloud and AI technology to the energy sector; Chevron executive Joseph C. Geagea said the goal included analyzing data to identify exploration opportunities and bring prospects to development more quickly.
What did The Atlantic report about Microsoft’s sales efforts?
In a September 13, 2024 investigation, The Atlantic reported that hundreds of pages of internal documents and interviews with 15 current and former employees and executives indicated Microsoft had sought to pitch technology to fossil fuel companies, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, for finding and developing reserves and maximizing production. The public partnership announcements establish selected projects; they do not independently confirm every detail in The Atlantic’s account of internal sales activity.
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The Atlantic also reported that a 2023 strategy memo discussed pitching OpenAI models to Chevron. According to the publication, an internal Microsoft slide deck from January 2022 estimated that the company’s tools could help ExxonMobil increase annual revenue by $1.4 billion, including $600 million associated with maximizing production described as “sustainable.” Those figures were an internal estimate as reported by The Atlantic—not realized revenue or an independently validated result.
How do the oil-sector projects relate to Microsoft’s environmental record?
The projects illustrate why operational improvements and climate outcomes should not be treated as interchangeable. Better field data, efficiency, or methane-leak response can serve operational or emissions-monitoring purposes. The same technology can also support exploration, development, and higher production, as the 2019 ExxonMobil announcement’s growth forecast made explicit. The stated use cases alone do not establish the net effect on emissions.
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Microsoft’s 2025 sustainability reporting presents two different parts of its environmental record: reported emissions and energy use have risen from the company’s 2020 baseline, while the company also describes renewable-energy procurement and 2030 commitments.
| Measure | What Microsoft reported |
|---|---|
| Total Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions | 23.4% above Microsoft’s 2020 baseline in its 2025 sustainability reporting. Microsoft attributed the increase to growth-related factors, including AI and cloud expansion. |
| Energy use | 168% above the 2020 baseline, according to Microsoft’s 2025 reporting. |
| Revenue | 71% above the 2020 baseline, according to Microsoft’s 2025 reporting. |
| Renewable energy | Microsoft said its 2025 sustainability report page that it had contracted 34 GW of new renewable energy across 24 countries. |
| Environmental commitments | Microsoft reaffirmed its 2030 commitments in its 2025 sustainability report page. |
These are company-reported figures, and they measure different things: emissions, energy use, revenue, contracted renewable capacity, and future commitments. Renewable-energy contracts and goals do not erase the reported emissions increase, nor do those figures by themselves quantify the climate impact of Microsoft’s fossil-fuel-sector business.
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What did shareholders ask Microsoft to disclose?
Microsoft’s October 2024 proxy materials included a shareholder proposal titled “Report on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Tools for Oil and Gas.” Its proponents argued that AI and machine-learning tools could enable continued fossil-fuel expansion and expose Microsoft and investors to risks. That is the proposal’s case for disclosure, not an established finding about the net effect of every Microsoft project.
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- Brilliant Display – Stunning 13.8" PixelSense touchscreen[1], with brilliant LCD display[2], unleashes luminous whites, deeper blacks and colors so richly saturated bringing vivid life into every frame – perfect for work, school, streaming and creative tasks.
- Power that lasts all day – With 20 hours of battery life[3], the new Surface Laptop powers through your entire day, so you can create, work and stream from morning to night without reaching for a charger.
- Work at the speed of your ideas – Built with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite (12 Core) processors, Surface Laptop delivers fast, AI‑accelerated performance—making it the most powerful Surface laptop for everything from multitasking to demanding workloads.
- The ports you need – Charge on-the-go, transfer data fast, or create the ultimate desktop set up with two USB-C / USB4[4] ports.
- Built-in AI Companion – Work smarter, create freely, and communicate with confidence—Copilot[5] on Windows 11 is always there to help.
What is known—and what remains unclear?
- Established in Microsoft announcements: selected 2019 partnerships involved technology for oil-and-gas exploration and production, with operational and emissions-monitoring uses also described.
- Reported by The Atlantic: internal materials and interviews pointed to wider efforts to sell technology to fossil-fuel firms, including an internal revenue estimate and a 2023 memo about pitching OpenAI models to Chevron.
- Not established by these sources: whether the forecast production increase for ExxonMobil was achieved by 2025, the current status of every named arrangement, or a complete current inventory of Microsoft’s fossil-fuel contracts.
- Not quantified here: the net climate effect of Microsoft’s AI sales to oil and gas companies. The available figures do not settle that question.
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