Chevron Corp. said natural gas will play a long-term role in curbing climate-damaging emissions, bucking some environmental groups that see the fuel’s role as a temporary bridge to a low-carbon economy.

To that end, European buyers are signing more gas-delivery contracts of a decade or more in duration as they seek replacement sources of the heating and power-plant fuel formerly supplied by Russia, said Colin Parfitt, Chevron’s vice president of midstream. 

“We see a long demand for natural gas,” Parfitt said during an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. “But we don’t think it’s just an intermediate step. We see that as a long term step.”

Parfitt’s comments came a week after Chevron shareholders overwhelmingly shot down activist demands for tougher emission targets.