Oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil Corp. could be exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States anytime soon.

"We are studying it," Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO, said on Tuesday at the 25th World Gas Conference in Malaysia.

Mr Tillerson, who said in his speech that the growing consumption and supply of natural gas will open new prospects for economic growth as well as environmental improvement with fewer emissions, also confirmed that Exxon Mobil Corp. is currently looking into the idea of constructing a new petrochemical plant in Texas to take advantage of current cheap shale gas prices.

But he was quick to say the company had not discussed and finalised its possible level of investment or if the plan will export petrochemicals.

"We will see where the markets are for those chemicals," he said.

Meanwhile, in the same gas conference, Mr Tillerson said his company, given the world demand for cleaner-burning natural gas resources, anticipates the basic raw commodity coal will eventually be delegated to the background as natural gas become the second most widely used source of energy by 2025.

Energy demand in the Asia-Pacific region alone will jump over the next three decades by more than 50 per cent, he said.

"The challenge now is to confirm the size of the global unconventional resource and to fully apply these breakthrough technologies to nations outside North America," he added.