Industry Leaders: An Introduction to ExxonMobil
In 1863, new railway lines were built in Cleveland, strengthening its position in the oil industry, and entrepreneurs rushed to invest and build plants along the railway. At that time crude oil production was still highly risky and inefficient, while refining enjoyed enormous market demand. John D. Rockefeller foresaw that the refining business would soon surpass his agricultural produce trade in Cleveland, so he and Maurice Clark jointly opened a refinery in Cleveland. In 1865, because Clark opposed Rockefeller's plan to expand the business, the two held a private auction, and Rockefeller bought the refinery for USD 72,500 to become its sole owner. Soon afterwards he set up a second refinery. [40]
In 1866, Rockefeller formed a new company in New York to handle kerosene exports and manage Atlantic business, with sales exceeding USD 2 million that year. In the 1860s, crude oil and kerosene were mainly shipped in beer barrels. By buying land and planting the red oak used to make barrels, Rockefeller successfully cut barrel costs to half those of other refiners. He also bought ships and tank cars belonging to his refineries in order to greatly reduce freight costs. Rockefeller was also the first to adopt integration, bringing kerosene supply and distribution in-house so as to reduce the impact of market volatility. In addition, he insisted on maintaining a strong cash position, accumulating substantial funds through cost savings and profits, which reduced the refineries' dependence on banks and enabled him to buy oil when prices fell. Thanks to sound management, by the late 1860s Rockefeller's refinery had grown into the largest in the world. On 10 January 1870, Rockefeller, Flagler and three other partners founded the Standard Oil Company of Ohio, which upon its establishment already controlled one-tenth of America's refining capacity. [40]
In 1871, Rockefeller decided to launch "Our Plan", uniting all refineries in order to eliminate excess capacity and control prices. In 1872, Standard Oil controlled most of Cleveland's refining industry and some refineries in New York, becoming the largest refining company in the world at the time. In 1875, Standard Oil led the formation of the Central Association of Refiners, seeking to organise refiners across the United States to jointly control crude purchasing and set the selling prices of refined products. The association also negotiated with railway companies to secure larger rebates. In 1879, it acquired a 75% stake in the Vacuum Oil Company; in the same year, Standard Oil controlled 90% of America's refineries and oil transport system at the time. [40]
On 2 January 1882, the Standard Oil Trust Agreement was signed, providing protection for Standard Oil's worldwide operations and expansion. In February and May, Standard Oil Company of New York (which later became Mobil) and Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (which later became Exxon) were established. In 1883, the Standard Oil Trust worked with the National Transit Company to build natural gas pipelines. By 1891, the trust's oil output had reached 25% of US crude production at the time. In 1892, the Standard Oil Trust was dissolved and its shares transferred to 20 companies. In 1899, Standard Oil's owners established Standard Oil Company of New Jersey to control the operations of these 20 companies [40]. In 1906, a small kerosene lamp known as Mei-Foo was developed [36]. In 1909, a federal court ordered Standard Oil to be broken up. [40]
In 1911, Standard Oil was broken up into 34 companies, including Standard Oil of New Jersey, Standard Oil of New York and Vacuum Oil. [40]
In 1912, Standard Oil of New Jersey set up a Dutch colonial petroleum company. In 1914, it registered International Petroleum Company in Canada to handle exploration and production in South America. In 1915, it expanded into the oilfields of the US Midwest. In 1918, it bought about 121 hectares of concessions in Venezuela. In 1919, it purchased a 50% stake in Humble Oil, through which it gained control of substantial oil assets. In 1920, it launched a petrochemical product, rubbing alcohol. In 1932, it brought the Pan American Petroleum Company of Mexico under its wing. [40]
In 1937, Standard Oil of New Jersey developed butyl synthetic rubber. In 1938, it produced the world's first alkylation product. In October 1940, it signed a contract with the US Department of War, undertaking to supply 30 million gallons of nitration-grade toluene each year [41]. In 1972, the company was renamed Exxon Corporation [40]. In 1978, Exxon developed the EXOL N process, which could replace conventional phenol extraction technology; in the same year, Exxon's plant in Baytown developed the EXXON DONOR SOLVENT process, capable of producing liquid fuels from coal. In 1979, Exxon acquired the US company Reliance Electric. In 1985, it invested USD 367 million to acquire coal interests and carried out exploration for uranium, zinc, iron and other minerals in Australia, Canada, South Africa and Spain. [41]
In 1913, Standard Oil of New York rolled out a worldwide product standardisation strategy, unifying the quality, specifications and product names of its oils in all regions. In 1916, it built a new refinery in New Jersey dedicated to producing oil products for export. In 1918, it acquired a 45% stake in the Magnolia Petroleum Company, gaining control of it. In 1919, it established subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Greece, Yugoslavia, Australia and South Africa. [40]
In 1931, Standard Oil of New York merged with Vacuum Oil to form Socony-Vacuum Oil Company. In 1955, the company was renamed Socony Mobil. In 1966, it was renamed Mobil Corporation [40]. In 1975, Mobil took part in the construction of the world's first concrete oil production platform. In 1976, Mobil invented a method of using the versatile ZSM-5 catalyst to convert methanol into high-octane gasoline; in the same year, it acquired Container Corporation of America and established a coal company. In 1985, its coal reserves reached 4.167 billion tonnes. [41]
On 1 December 1998, Exxon and Mobil reached an agreement to merge. In 1999, Exxon and Mobil divested 2,431 service stations, a refinery in California and several other assets; on 30 November, the merger was completed and ExxonMobil was formally established as a single company. [41]
From 2005, ExxonMobil launched the Al Khaleej Gas Phase 1 (AKG-1) and Phase 2 projects in Qatar and strengthened oil production in countries such as Angola, Colombia, Indonesia and Russia; in the same year, ExxonMobil, Qatar Petroleum and Edison reached an agreement to build a liquefied natural gas terminal off the Italian coast in the northern Adriatic. In 2006, ExxonMobil put forward a clean energy strategy, taking the view that natural gas, and LNG in particular, is the key to achieving sustainable development. [42]
In 2008, the financial crisis broke out and oil prices fell sharply. Most oil companies cut upstream investment, but ExxonMobil persisted in expanding it. In 2009, the company completed a USD 19 billion liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea and, together with Qatar Petroleum, built one of the world's largest LNG production facilities; at the end of the year, ExxonMobil acquired XTO, the largest shale gas producer in the United States, for USD 40.5 billion. Through this acquisition it successfully entered the unconventional oil and gas sector, added about 60 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves and became the largest natural gas producer in the United States. [41-42]
In 2011, ExxonMobil reached a long-term strategic cooperation agreement with the Russian oil company Rosneft. In 2012, the two companies jointly established an Arctic deepwater development research centre and signed an agreement to jointly develop tight oil reserves in western Siberia. In 2013, the company decided to expand its liquefied natural gas plant in Papua New Guinea and, together with BP, ConocoPhillips and TransCanada, selected a site in the Nikiski area of the Kenai Peninsula as the main base for the gas liquefaction plant and terminal of the proposed Alaska LNG project. Since 2014, oversupply in the LNG market has become increasingly severe and industry sentiment has shifted from optimism to pessimism; against this backdrop, ExxonMobil firmly pushed ahead with its LNG development strategy, starting the PNG LNG project in Papua New Guinea in April 2014; in May, it successfully shipped the project's first cargo of liquefied natural gas; in the same year, ExxonMobil negotiated with TPAO on plans to explore shale gas resources in Turkey, and added a petrochemical processing plant at Jurong in Singapore. [42]
In 2016, ExxonMobil announced the acquisition of InterOil of Papua New Guinea [42]. In 2017, it partnered with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; in the same year, it acquired a company owned by the Bass family of Fort Worth, Texas [36]. On 31 January 2020, ExxonMobil (XOM.US) fourth-quarter earnings were expected to fall 68.1% to USD 0.45 [11]. In 2021, ExxonMobil commercialised its low-carbon technology portfolio. [36]
On 1 March 2022, ExxonMobil issued a statement announcing that, in view of the situation in Ukraine, it would withdraw from the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project and would make no new investments in Russia [14]; in October, ExxonMobil said that it had completely left Russia after Russian President Putin terminated its interest in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project [19]; on 15 November, ExxonMobil and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China held a loan signing ceremony for Phase I of the Huizhou ethylene project. With a total investment of about USD 10 billion, it is Mobil's first wholly-owned petrochemical project in China. [20]
On 15 February 2023, ExxonMobil held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new research and development centre in the Daya Bay Petrochemical Park in Huizhou [23]; on 21 April, sources said that ExxonMobil (XOM.US) was considering a complete withdrawal from Russia before 24 June, having already decided to exit its oil and gas business in Russia [15]; on 15 September, the government of the State of California sued ExxonMobil and four other oil majors, accusing these companies of downplaying the climate change risks posed by fossil fuels, deceiving the public and causing tens of billions of dollars in losses [27]; in October, Bloomberg reported that ExxonMobil would acquire the US company Pioneer [29]; on 7 October, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian government to set up a separate company to operate the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project on Russia's Far Eastern shelf, which meant that Russia would take back operatorship of Sakhalin-1 from the Russian subsidiary of the US energy giant ExxonMobil [18]; on the evening of 11 October, ExxonMobil announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire the US shale oil and gas company Pioneer Natural Resources for a total of USD 59.5 billion, equivalent to USD 253 per share [30]; on 14 November, it sold its 22.7% stake in Iraq's West Qurna-1 oilfield to Basra Oil Company, and subsequently sold the remaining 10% stake to Indonesia's state oil company and exited the Iraqi market. [31] [33]
In March 2025, ExxonMobil was to cut about 250 jobs in the United Kingdom [107]. On 2 April local time, ExxonMobil announced that Karen T. McKee, Vice President and President of ExxonMobil Product Solutions, would retire on 1 May, with Matt Crocker as her successor [108]. On 4 April US Eastern Time, ExxonMobil shares fell 7.20%. [109]
In April 2025, a strategic upgrade ceremony and new product launch for JD Auto and ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co., Ltd. was held in Beijing. At the event, the two sides announced that they would comprehensively deepen their strategic cooperation on the existing basis. Mobil's newly upgraded Mobil 1 Obsidian Black series was launched exclusively on JD.com, and a number of new products, including Mobil 1 Aurora Silver, also became available across JD's online and offline channels. [111]
On 30 September 2025, the company announced that it would cut about 2,000 jobs worldwide. [113]
In addition, many other factors need to be taken into account in actual engineering applications.
The downstream business sells Synergy fuels and other products to customers worldwide through retail service stations under the Esso, ExxonMobil and Mobil brands, passenger and commercial vehicle lubricants, and a global business-to-business segment. [63]
In addition, many other factors need to be taken into account in actual engineering applications.
In 2023, ExxonMobil held a "Low Carbon Solutions Spotlight" event to explain how the company is "growing its Low Carbon Solutions business to help accelerate progress towards society's net-zero goals". Executives said that the company's low-carbon solutions business can help customers significantly reduce emissions. [99]
At the same time, the supporting processes and equipment involved are also being continuously optimised and upgraded.
In 2022, after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, ExxonMobil announced that it would withdraw from the Sakhalin-1 project, and over the following months it gradually reduced output from the project; in August, Putin signed a decree banning investors from "unfriendly countries" from selling shares in certain strategic enterprises before the end of the year, a countermeasure gradually adopted by the Russian government against "unfriendly countries"; in October, ExxonMobil stated that Russia had "unilaterally terminated" its interest in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project earlier that month and had handed the project over to a Russian operator. The statement also said that the company had "safely exited" Russia before its interest was terminated. [98]
In February 2026, the US Supreme Court is to hear a case concerning the scope of application of a law that allows US companies to seek compensation for property confiscated by Cuba. The case involves ExxonMobil and relates to the US Helms-Burton Act passed in 1996. That law allows US courts to hear lawsuits against any party that "traffics" in property confiscated by Cuba's communist government after the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro. ExxonMobil is claiming more than USD 1 billion from Cuban state entities over oil and gas assets confiscated by the Cuban government in 1960. ExxonMobil has the support of the Trump administration in the litigation. When the Castro government seized all of ExxonMobil's oil and gas assets in Cuba, the losses were valued at USD 70 million; because of interest and potential punitive damages, ExxonMobil's current claim is far higher than that. In 2019, ExxonMobil sued CIMEX, Cuba's largest conglomerate, alleging that it continued to hold and profit from the confiscated assets. Lower courts ruled that Cuban state entities facing Helms-Burton lawsuits may invoke foreign sovereign immunity, a legal defence that protects foreign governments and their agents from lawsuits in US courts unless an exception applies. ExxonMobil then appealed to the Supreme Court. [126]
On 23 February 2026, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals by ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy, in which the two oil companies seek to have dismissed a lawsuit brought by officials of Boulder, Colorado, that would hold oil companies responsible for aggravating climate change. [127]
