Why are large companies like Exxon and Mobil suddenly interested in learning more about ionic liquids?

Due to high advantages of ionic liquids.

Explanation:

Large companies like Exxon and Mobil interested in learning more about ionic liquids because these ionic liquids are used in the petroleum industry for removing impurities during oil refining process. These two large companies such as Exxon and Mobil have main business of petroleum extraction from the under ground oil fields so these ionic liquids has a great importance in their petroleum industry so that's why these companies interested in knowing about these ionic liquids.