Energy · Profile from Energy Research Companion

ExxonMobil

The Texas-based integrated oil and gas company descended from John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil of New Jersey ("Jersey Standard", 1882), reunited with its Standard Oil sibling Mobil in 1999. It is the largest investor-owned oil company in the Western world, producing ~4.7–4.8m barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d) in 2025 (company) from two "advantaged" pillars, the Guyana Stabroek block (discovered 2015) and the US Permian Basin (enlarged by the ~$59.5bn all-stock Pioneer purchase, closed 3 May 2024), plus LNG, refining and chemicals. Its story turns on cost and capital discipline through the cycle: it kept investing when prices fell (Guyana through 2015–16, the Permian through 2020), refused to follow European peers into a low-carbon pivot, and was punished for it twice, first by its first annual loss in modern history (2020, ~$22bn, reported) and removal from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, then by the Engine No. 1 proxy defeat (May 2021), before being rewarded by the 2022 price spike and the 2026 Gulf crisis. Its largest failures were operational and political: the Exxon Valdez spill (1989), XTO's dry-gas bet (2010) and the Russian Arctic partnership with Rosneft (2011–22).

At a glance

Founded: 1870 (Standard Oil of Ohio) / 1882 (Standard Oil of New Jersey); Exxon name from 1972; ExxonMobil from 30 November 1999 (merger with Mobil, the former Standard Oil of New York)
Headquarters: Spring, Texas (Houston area), since 2023; previously Irving, Texas (1989–2023) and New York before that
Ownership / structure: Public (NYSE: XOM). Widely held; Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street are the largest holders (index funds). One share class
Leadership (2026): Darren Woods (chairman and CEO since January 2017); Kathy Mikells (CFO since 2022); senior vice presidents and segment presidents for Upstream, Product Solutions and Low Carbon Solutions (names change; verify current list)
Segments: Upstream (oil, gas, LNG); Energy Products (refining and fuels); Chemical Products; Specialty Products (lubricants, Mobil 1); Low Carbon Solutions (carbon capture, hydrogen, lithium)
Scale: Production ~4.3m boe/d (2024) and ~4.7–4.8m boe/d (2025; ~4.8m in Q3 2025) (company); Guyana gross ~0.9m b/d (early 2026, government data via OilNOW, reported); Permian ~1.3–1.6m boe/d after Pioneer (company claims, verify 2026 figure). ~60,000 employees (2024, company, verify)
Profits: Record ~$55.7bn net income in 2022 (company; section 21 rounds it to ~$56bn); ~$36bn (2023) and ~$33.7bn (2024) (company); Q3 2026 net income ~$15.4bn ($3.72/share; adjusted ~$17.5bn) (company release, 30 Oct 2026)
Reserves: SEC proved reserves of the order of ~17–20bn boe (2023–25; company 10-K, verify year-end figure); Stabroek ~11bn boe discovered recoverable (gross, company claim, not SEC proved)
Shareholder returns: Buybacks ~$20bn a year in 2025–26 and ~$20bn planned for 2027 (company, reported); dividend raised for 44 consecutive years by 2026 (reported)
Signature moves (incl. failures): Standard Oil break-up (1911); Exxon Valdez (1989); Exxon–Mobil merger (1998–99); XTO Energy (2010); Rosneft Arctic JV (2011) and Russia exit (2022); Guyana Stabroek discovery (2015); 2020 loss and Dow exit; Engine No. 1 proxy fight (2021); Pioneer and Denbury (2023–24)

9 strategic moves analysed

Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.

1911
Standard Oil Break Up Jersey Standard
Regulatory or legal action (court-ordered break-up)
1989
Exxon Valdez Spill
Accident or disaster
1998
Exxon Mobil Merger
Acquisition or merger
2010
XTO Energy Acquisition
Acquisition (later written down: a failure on price, a partial success as a platform)
2011
Rosneft Arctic JV and 2022 Russia Exit
Strategic partnership (exploration JV) → sanctions → exit (failure)
2015
Guyana Stabroek Discovery
Discovery → project final investment decisions (FIDs)
2020
First Annual Loss and Dow Exit
Restructuring (spending and job cuts, impairments) after a price collapse; failure
2021
Engine No 1 Proxy Fight
Regulatory or legal action / strategy pivot: an activist proxy contest that the company lost in part
2023
Pioneer and Denbury Acquisitions
Acquisition or merger (two deals: shale oil scale and a CO2 pipeline network)

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