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Come next year, a new title sponsorship between the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 International Balloon Fiesta and ExxonMobil will kick into effect.

The agreement, set to run 2025-2029, will change the name of the Balloon Fiesta to the ExxonMobil sa国际传媒官网网页入口 International Balloon Fiesta.

The current Balloon Fiesta is 鈥減owered by ExxonMobil,鈥� as the energy company is the sole presenting sponsor. Prior to starting the presenting sponsorship in 2022, Exxon was a regular sponsor for three years.

Bart Cahir is a senior vice president at ExxonMobil. He mingled under the ExxonMobil tent on Balloon Fiesta鈥檚 opening day. In an interview with the Journal, he said Exxon is thrilled to grow the sponsorship.

鈥淔or us, it's really about showcasing an event that's super important to the people of New Mexico, super important to our employees who work here,鈥� he said.

As an international company, he said the title sponsorship will help grow visibility of Balloon Fiesta around the globe.

Tom Garrity, a spokesperson for Balloon Fiesta, said via email sponsors don鈥檛 have a role in programming but play a major role in supporting the event financially and through goods and services. Balloon Fiesta Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, he said.

鈥淭he sa国际传媒官网网页入口 International Balloon Fiesta organization is pleased that ExxonMobil is growing its existing presenting sponsorship to be the event鈥檚 title sponsor starting in 2025,鈥� Garrity said.

He declined to disclose the details of the sponsorship agreement, including financial commitments. He said the information is 鈥減rivate and will remain between the Balloon Fiesta and ExxonMobil.鈥�

The annual Balloon Fiesta generates more than $200 million for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 area, according to ExxonMobil.

Cahir said Exxon鈥檚 taxes and royalties in New Mexico approached $1 billion in 2022 and the state is one of the best representations of the company鈥檚 corporate strategy.

鈥淲e believe in growing, reliable, affordable energy that society needs and doing so while reducing emissions and doing it responsibly,鈥� Cahir said.

Not everyone is pleased about Exxon's sponsorship. The oil and gas industry has played a major role in climate pollution in New Mexico, and a lawsuit against the state alleging it enables the pollution remains pending in civil court.

ExxonMobil has a goal to be net zero by 2030. Cahir said the company is electrifying its operations and has eliminated routine flaring while growing production at the same time.

He said the company is also investing in technologies like carbon capture and sequestration as well as developing hydrogen-based businesses.

鈥淲e're really attacking this problem on multiple fronts and using all of the technical know-how and capabilities of our people, and they're proud New Mexicans who really feel really good about the fact that we're doing this the right way,鈥� he said.

He referenced New Mexico鈥檚 low-carbon fuel standards, which passed in the recent legislative session, and Exxon鈥檚 support of the policy.

鈥淚 think people often don't appreciate how scientifically driven our company is and how we truly believe in doing things responsibly,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that is that 鈥榓nd鈥� equation we're talking about. You need these products to navigate the energy transition, but why not do that more and more responsibly through time?鈥�

Cahir said the energy products Exxon produces are used in everyday life, even on the balloon field.

鈥淲atching our balloon take off, what I saw was a lot of our energy products: the materials in the balloons as well as the propane that's used to fire them up at work,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd so it's a great visual portrayal of how important the products are that we produce here in New Mexico.鈥�