ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation, an American multinational oil and gas company, is based in Spring, Texas, near Houston. It traces its roots as the primary successor to John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil and was created in 1999 when Exxon and Mobil merged. The company operates across the full spectrum of the oil and gas industry, including a chemicals division that makes plastics, synthetic rubber, and other chemical goods. It ranks as the largest U.S.-based oil and gas firm, the eighth-largest U.S. company by revenue, the 13th-largest globally, and the world’s biggest investor-owned oil company.

The company has faced widespread criticism and lawsuits, largely over environmental disasters and a history of disputing the scientific consensus that fossil fuels drive global warming. ExxonMobil has been linked to numerous oil spills, most notably the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, one of the most environmentally damaging spills ever. It has also been accused of human rights abuses and of wielding excessive influence over U.S. foreign policy and developing nations. In 2024, the company emitted 610 million metric tons of CO₂, accounting for 1.58% of global emissions.

**History**

The Vacuum Oil Company, founded in 1866, was bought by Standard Oil in 1879 and spun off in 1911 when Standard Oil was broken up by court order. In 1931, Vacuum Oil merged with Standard Oil Company of New York (Socony), and the combined entity later became known as Mobil. After the 1911 breakup, Standard Oil continued through its New Jersey subsidiary, Jersey Standard, which kept the Standard name in much of the eastern U.S. Jersey Standard expanded by acquiring Humble Oil in the 1930s and became a dominant global oil company. However, its inability to use the Standard Oil name nationwide led it to adopt the single brand Exxon in 1972, replacing the separate Esso, Enco, and Humble Oil names. In 1998, Exxon and Mobil agreed to merge, and the deal closed on November 30, 1999. The new company’s name combined both predecessors’ trade names, but the merger structure made Exxon the surviving company that bought Mobil, rather than forming a new entity. Exxon’s NYSE ticker changed from “XON” to “XOM.”

**Operations**

ExxonMobil is the largest privately owned company in the global energy industry, producing roughly 3% of the world’s oil and about 2% of its energy. It is vertically integrated across several operating divisions, grouped into three main categories, plus standalone units like Coal & Minerals. The company also owns many smaller subsidiaries, including XTO Energy and SeaRiver Maritime, and holds a majority stake in Imperial Oil.

- **Upstream** (oil exploration, extraction, shipping, and wholesale) - **Product Solutions** (downstream and chemical operations) - **Low Carbon Solutions**

The upstream division generates about 70% of ExxonMobil’s revenue. As of 2021, the company held roughly 30 billion barrels of oil and oil equivalents, along with 38.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas. In the U.S., its exploration and production focus on the Permian Basin, Bakken Formation, Woodford Shale, Caney Shale, and the Gulf of Mexico. Natural gas activities occur in the Marcellus, Utica, Haynesville, Barnett, and Fayetteville shales, all run by subsidiary XTO Energy. By the end of 2014, ExxonMobil owned 14.6 million acres in the U.S., including 1.7 million offshore (1.5 million in the Gulf of Mexico). In California, it operates a joint venture, Aera Energy LLC, with Shell Oil. In Canada, it holds 5.4 million acres, including 1 million offshore and 0.7 million in the Kearl Oil Sands Project.

Internationally, ExxonMobil owns 0.9 million acres in Argentina, 4.9 million in Germany, 1.5 million in the Netherlands, 0.4 million offshore Norway, and 0.6 million offshore the UK. In Africa, upstream operations are in Angola (0.4 million acres offshore), Chad (46,000 acres), Equatorial Guinea (0.1 million offshore), and Nigeria (0.8 million offshore). It plans exploration off Liberia and Ivory Coast but ended activities in Madagascar due to poor results. In Asia, it holds 9,000 acres in Azerbaijan, 1.7 million in Indonesia (1.3 million offshore), 0.7 million in Iraq, 0.3 million in Kazakhstan, 0.2 million in Malaysia, 65,000 in Qatar, 10,000 in Yemen, 21,000 in Thailand, and 81,000 in the United Arab Emirates. ExxonMobil left the West Qurna 1 oilfield in Iraq in January 2024, transferring its stake to PetroChina and Pertamina. In March 2024, the company discovered oil at the Stabroek block.