Exxon Maximus

Exxon Mobil is among the world’s largest corporations — and is a lightning rod for criticism by the environmental community. While the company has reaped record profits in recent years, it now faces declining prices and concerns over oil reserves. We present the key facts on Exxon.

Why was 2008 a banner year for Exxon?

In 2008, Exxon Mobil broke its own record for the biggest U.S. yearly profit, reporting earnings of $45.2 billion for the year — despite the global economic slowdown.
(Associated Press)

How much money has the company made in recent years?

From 2004 to the third quarter of 2008, Exxon made profits of about $180 billion.

(New York Times)

Put another way?

Exxon Mobil earned more than $1,287 of profit for every second of 2007.

(New York Times)

How did they do it?

In 2007, Exxon's profit per barrel was $17 — exceeding BP's $12 a barrel, Shell's $14 and Chevron's $16.

(Bernstein Research)

Have investors taken note?

In July 2007, Exxon became the first company worth more than $500 billion since the 1990s stock market boom.

(Wall Street Journal)

How much is the company currently worth?

As of November 2008, Exxon has a market capitalization of about $375 billion — more than General Electric, Bank of America and Google combined.

(New York Times)

Has the company returned a fair share of its profits to investors?

From 2003 to the third quarter of 2008, Exxon has paid out nearly $150 billion to shareholders — spending over $40 billion in dividends and buying back about $110 billion worth of shares.

(New York Times)

Just how much oil and gas does Exxon produce?

In the last three months of 2007, Exxon Mobil produced 2.5 million barrels a day of crude oil and natural gas liquids. However, the figure was down almost 1% from the year before, in part because Exxon’s operation in Venezuela was nationalized.

(Washington Post)

How does Exxon rank among other energy giants?

Saudi Aramco, which is wholly owned by the Saudi government, pumps four times more oil than Exxon.

(International Herald Tribune)

How is Exxon beating the competition?

Between 2004 and 2006, Exxon was the only major international oil company with a reserve replacement rate exceeding 100% — meaning it found more than one barrel for each barrel it produced.

(Moody's)

What happened in 2007?

In 2007, Exxon replaced just 76% of the oil and gas it produced.

(Wall Street Journal)

How much does Exxon spend on exploration?

Exxon spent about $125 billion to seek and develop hydrocarbons between 1999 and 2008 — and expects to spend $35 to $30 billion each year through 2012 for further exploration.

(New York Times)

Why is Exxon a U.S. economic icon?

Exxon Mobil is the sole representative of energy companies in the 30 companies of the Dow composite average.

(Financial Times)

How does Africa play into Exxon’s strategy?

By 2010, Africa will be the biggest single source of oil for Exxon — and by 2015, West Africa will be the world’s largest oil source outside of OPEC.

(PFC Energy)

Do these countries profit from their relationships with Exxon Mobil?

The government of Chad collects a royalty of 12.5% on Exxon Mobil’s oil sales from wells in the country.

(Wall Street Journal)

What is Exxon's stance on global warming?

Exxon helped pay for television advertisements aired in the United States by the Competitive Enterprise Institute — which included the slogan “Carbon dioxide: They call it pollution — we call it life.”

(The Economist)

Was Exxon's former CEO handsomely rewarded for his services?

Former Exxon chairman Lee Raymond was compensated more than $686 million between 1993 and when he retired in December 2005. That is $144,573 for each day that he spent leading the company.

(New York Times)

What is noteworthy about the company's current CEO?

As of October 2008, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson has led Exxon Mobil to nine of the 15 largest quarterly profits in U.S. history.

(Bloomberg)

And finally, how did Exxon Mobil come about?

Exxon Mobil was formed by the 1999 merger of the two biggest pieces of the Standard Oil Trust, the original U.S. oil monopoly of the late 19th century. Exxon was the largest of the 34 companies spun off from Standard Oil after it was broken up in 1911 — while Mobil emerged from the Standard Oil Company of New York.

(Financial Times)