ExxonMobil

Market Spotlight Taking on the world’s toughest energy challenges

What do Esso, Mobil and ExxonMobil have in common? Aside from each being worldwide, household names in their own right, they make up the Exxon Mobil Corporation: the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, headquartered from Irving, Texas.

This industry heavyweight has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a kerosene marketer in the United States 125 years ago. Descending from the Standard Oil Company, the conglomerate we know today was formed in November 1999, when Exxon and Mobil merged. Company revenue for 2008 totalled US$477.35 billion and today, over 79,000 employees span six continents.

“We operate facilities and market products around the world, and explore for oil and natural gas,” according to a statement by ExxonMobil.

“We lead the industry in almost every aspect of the energy and petrochemical business.”

On December 13, 2009, ExxonMobil made headlines the world over when it made an investment move which many viewed as a massive gamble on the future of the gas-fuelled power industry. The company struck a US$41 billion deal to purchase XTO Energy, a production company hailing from its native Texas. This move offers ExxonMobil potential access to extremely lucrative gas reserves all over the United States.

 Rex W. Tillerson, ExxonMobil’s Chairman and CEO, declared that this, the sixth largest corporate deal of the year, marked a pivotal step in America’s quest for energy independence as cited by President Barack Obama.

“XTO is a leading U.S. unconventional natural gas producer, with an outstanding resource base, strong technical expertise and highly skilled employees. XTO’s strengths, together with ExxonMobil’s advanced R&D and operational capabilities, global scale and financial capacity, should enable development of additional supplies of unconventional oil and gas resources, benefiting consumers both here in the United States and around the world,” Obama said.

The press held deemed this announcement to be ExxonMobil’s largest move since the company-creation merger of 1999. However, it was not long before another exciting announcement hit our screens.

On January 8, 2010, the company announced that ExxonMobil Chemical Qatar Ltd, a subsidiary of the parent company, in partnership with Qatar Petroleum, had signed a multi-billion dollar petrochemical complex deal. This will give them both enviable access to supply oil product to the Asian markets.

In ExxonMobil’s Outlook for Energy: A View to 2030 presentation, the company predicts that the global demand for energy will rise by nearly 35 per cent on that of 2005, “even accounting for the recession which dampened energy demand in 2009.”

The company states that in order to meet this surge in demand and simultaneously reduce environmental risk, a set of integrated solutions are necessary. The company list includes:

Accelerating energy efficiency, which tempers

- demand and saves emissions

- Expanding all economic energy sources, including oil and natural gas

- Mitigating emissions through the use of new technologies and cleaner-burning fuels such as natural gas, nuclear and other renewable sources.

ExxonMobil updates this comprehensive Outlook guide each year by assembling detailed analysis from both public information and in-house research of roughly 100 countries.

“ExxonMobil uses the Outlook to guide its long-term investment decisions. We share it publicly to encourage a better understanding of our company, our industry and the global energy challenges that we all have a vested interest in meeting.”

This guide sheds some light on the long-term goals for this energy major player. When coupled with the most recent agreements struck and news announced, it demonstrates ExxonMobil’s approach and actions to place themselves at the heart of tomorrows global energy needs.

The Outlook guide predicts continuing gradual shifts in energy and technology leading up to 2030, with energy diversifying throughout the globe and, as a result, growing stronger in terms of security.

“Change in energy use and technology development is an evolutionary process, but one that often has revolutionary impacts,” the guide states.

The company mission statement, “Taking on the world’s toughest energy challenges,” appears all the more appropriate when you consider the meticulous and intricate nature of ExxonMobil’s 2030-facing plans.

Add to: del.icio.us | Digg | NewsVine | Mixx | FaceBook | Twitter