ExxonMobil, the largest US oil group, proclaimed this week that it was creating more than 45,000 construction and production jobs by investing $20bn in petrochemical, refining and liquefied natural gas projects along the Gulf of Mexico coast. None of the projects was newly announced — the investment programme started in 2013, to take advantage of the low-cost oil and gas released by the US shale boom — and some are not certain to go ahead. But that did not stop the positive news coverage, and President Donald Trump tweeted about the statement no fewer than five times. “ExxonMobil: special company, special people,” the president said in a video clip. Darren Woods, Exxon’s chief executive, who announced the numbers at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, provided a carefully worded statement for the White House press release, observing that “investments of this scale require a pro-growth approach and a stable regulatory environment and we appreciate the president’s commitment to both”. The mutually advantageous publicity for Exxon and Mr Trump was a sign of how US energy companies are building relationships with an administration that offers great opportunities in terms of deregulation and support for new infrastructure, but also risks in tax reform and disruption to trade.