ExxonMobil

NEW May 2006

by Co-Op America

Sample Profile: ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil may be second to BP in size, but with sales of over $320 billion, the company broke earnings records in 2005. And that's not all. Between its public denial of global warming and steadfast efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, Exxon made itself the target of concerned citizens internationally as campaigns to change the company's behavior gained steam. Exxon boasts a commitment to preserving biodiversity while simultaneously fighting policies designed to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. Critics accuse the company of funding "junk science" to refute evidence of climate change due to rising carbon dioxide levels from fossil fuels. Exxon has yet to address the issue of alternative energy sources and fails to recognize climate change as a real threat to the planet and, therefore, corporate investors. The company repeatedly uses its political influence to dictate a regressive US energy policy. Exxon's record of toxic spills, human rights abuses, and overall disregard for any corporate responsibility principles have earned it a spot at the top of Co-op America's list of the world's most egregious corporations.

-- Profile Updated 05/04/2006

About ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil engages in oil and gas exploration, production, supply, transportation, and marketing around the world. The company has reserves of over 21 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The company operates 40,000 service stations in 118 countries under the names Exxon, Esso, and Mobil. ExxonMobil also has interests in mining, power generation and coal. In 2005, the company reported revenues of $328.2 billion and employed 85,900 people.

Contact ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil
5959 Las Colinas Blvd.
Irving, TX 75039-2298 USA
Phone: 972-444-1000
Web: www.exxon.mobil.com

Complaints, Abuses, and Scandals

Campaign Action
Campaign ExxonMobil seeks to improve Exxon’s corporate responsibility by working with people who are already invested in the company. The campaign focuses on shareholders, providing education about the financial risks associated with global climate change and ExxonMobil’s failure to respond. Investors and shareholders are encouraged to support global warming resolutions and to use their investment dollars to move ExxonMobil in a more sustainable direction.

-- Campaign ExxonMobil
Source URL: www.campaignexxonmobil.org/

Campaign Action
The "Exxpose Exxon" campaign -- endorsed by groups such as the Alaska Coalition, MoveOn.org, and the Sierra Club -- alleges that Exxon has spurned renewable energy investment and continues to fund "junk science" to refute global warming. The campaign also alleges that ExxonMobil is still giving money to Arctic Power, the lobby working to convince Congress to open the Arctic refuge to oil development. The campaign is asking drivers to boycott ExxonMobil, asking investors not to buy Exxon stock, and asking job seekers to look to other options.

-- Exxpose Exxon
Source URL: www.exxposeexxon.com

Campaign Action
Co-op America's ExxonMobil Campaign calls on consumers to tell ExxonMobil to put money into developing renewable technologies instead of spending $600 million in research to keep the fossil fuel economy going.

-- Co-op America
Source URL: www.coopamerica.org/takeaction/exxon/index.cfm

Shareholder Resolutions
At the 2006 shareholder meeting, NorthStar Asset Management is calling on ExxonMobil to "initiate a review of [the] company’s executive compensation policies and to make available, upon request, a report of that review by December 1, 2006." The report is to include information on whether executive pay is excessive, and "an explanation of whether the issues of sizable layoffs or the level of pay of our lowest paid workers should result in an adjustment of executive pay to more reasonable and justifiable levels."

-- Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, 05/01/2006
Source URL: www.iccr.org

Shareholder Resolutions
At the 2006 shareholder meeting, the New York City Employees Retirement System is calling on Exxon to "review and report to shareholders, by September, 2006, on the corporation’s security arrangements with the Indonesian government and private security forces, including support, both monetary and in kind, to the Indonesian government and military. Furthermore, that this review and report to shareholders should be conducted with a particular reference to potential financial and reputational risks incurred by the company as a result of these relationships."

-- Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, 05/01/2006
Source URL: www.iccr.org

Human Rights
In June 2001, the International Labor Rights Fund sued ExxonMobil in federal court claiming the company remained complicit in human rights abuses committed by state security forces at a gas field in Indonesia. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of 11 villagers in Aceh who allege that the Indonesian military security unit used by ExxonMobil has committed acts of murder, torture, kidnapping, and rape on them and their family members. According to the New York Times , "The suit contends, for example, that Exxon Mobil provided barracks where the military tortured detainees and lent heavy equipment like excavators that, the suit says, were used to dig mass graves. " Exxon temporarily halted operation in Aceh in early 2001, after several armed attacks against commuting employees of the plant.

In 2002 ExxonMobil lawyers asked the US State Department to intervene claiming the lawsuit could upset delicate relations with the largest Muslim country in the world and compromise the US war on terrorism. The State Department supported the company's call for dismissal of the suit saying the trial "could impair cooperation with the U.S. across the full spectrum of diplomatic initiatives, including counterterrorism." In June 2004, the lawsuit was still ongoing.

-- Dow Jones International News, 08/06/2002
Source URL: none available

Toxic Emissions or Discharges
ExxonMobil has been criticized for its toxic emissions or discharges practices:

• In 2001, ExxonMobil agreed to pay an environmental fine of $11.2 million for discharging hazardous waste from a barge-cleaning operation on Staten Island, NY, and then being dishonest about it. The settlement ended a 1996 lawsuit the federal government brought against Mobil over the Staten Island discharge ponds. According to the court case, oil that was emptied into waterways was shown to exceed the legal amount of benzene, a chemical known to cause leukemia when airborne, by more than 20 times. Court documents filed in the case claim that Mobil continued to run its barge-cleaning operation for two years without a permit, and tried to save $3 million by failing to abide by EPA regulations.
• In May 2001, a jury determined that ExxonMobil must pay $1.06 billion to a family whose Louisiana land was contaminated with radioactive waste. The land was leased by the family to an Exxon contractor from the 1950s until 1992 and was used to clean Exxon's pipes. The jury determined that Exxon should have known of the radioactive contamination. Exxon denies that it had prior knowledge of the contamination. Additionally, the company denies that the contamination is as widespread as the plaintiffs claim and that clean-up costs exceed $46,000. The company said it would appeal. By March 2002 seven other lawsuits were filed by families living near the land. The suits seek compensation for damage to the residents' health and property from Exxon and the owners of the land.
• In December 2003, officials in Santa Monica, Calif. reached a settlement in which Shell, ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil agreed to pay $92.5 million for water cleanup from MTBE problems. The companies allegedly had prior knowledge of MTBE’s hazardous affects on the environment and local water supplies: "The number of contaminated wells could triple after the widespread use of MTBE in Exxon gasoline, a company engineer warned in a memo in 1984." Cleaning up MTBE contamination may coast as much as $29 billion nationwide, according to the National Conference of Mayors.
• In February 2001, ExxonMobil was one of eleven oil and gas companies named as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed by a Hyde Park, New York family alleging that the companies had conspired to market and use the gas additive MTBE, which is used to make gasoline burn cleaner. The Environmental Protection Agency has labeled MTBE as a possible carcinogen. MTBE has been found in drinking water in certain areas of Hyde Park. New York will officially ban the additive starting in 2004.
• In March 2003 Kazakhstan's highest court upheld a ruling against Tengiz-Chevroil oil company, whose US partners include ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco, for endangering public health and the environment by failing to properly dispose of a sulphur by-product. The high court reduced a fine against Tengiz-Chevroil by 90 percent to 1.08 billion tengi ($7.15 million dollars), but it was the only change to the original verdict by a regional court in Kazakhstan. ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil have denied that environmental or health damage was caused by storing the five million tons of slabs of sulfur in the open air.
• A San Francisco Jury found that Shell Oil Co., Lyondell Chemical Co. and Tosco Corp. were aware of the dangers of gasoline additive MTBE, but withheld the information when they put it on the market. The Court Jury made its finding in a product liability case brought by the south Tahoe Public utility District over contamination of the district's groundwater. The District sued in 1998 after MTBE pollution forced it to close a third of its drinking water wells. The lawyer Richard Drury has a lawsuit in the same Court charging that Exxon, Mobil and Tosco engaged in unfair business practices in marketing MTBE.
• In October 2003 the state of New Hampshire filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil and 21 oil companies for using MTBE, a gasoline additive that the attorney general claimed polluted much of the state's water supply. According to Attorney General Peter Heed MTBE, caused "an unprecedented and significant groundwater contamination problem." Heed alleged, "These companies knew of the dangers that adding MTBE to gasoline posed to the water resources. They, and not the state or its citizens, should pay the bill to fully address this unprecedented environmental problem."
• In December 2003, two Louisiana community groups, the St. Bernard Parish Citizens for Environmental Quality and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, gave ExxonMobil two months to remedy clean air violations at Chalmette Refining LLC before they initiated a federal lawsuit. Part of a joint venture with Petroleo de Venezuela, the refining plant had allegedly violated the Clean Air Act and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. According to the two community groups, citizens in the surrounding areas have suffered health risks from breathing air the refinery has contaminated illegally. As of 2003, St. Bernard Parish had the highest cancer mortality rate in the state. ExxonMobil has emitted illegal quantities of pollutants into the air, the two groups claim, although the company has denied all charges. In late December 2003, the community sought an order to require the refinery to comply with federal and state emission limits and reporting requirements.

-- Agence France-Presse, 03/26/2003
Source URL: none available

Global Warming
ExxonMobil has been criticized for its policies and practices regarding Global Warming:

• In January 2004, studies carried out on behalf of Friends of the Earth International by Richard Heede of Climate Mitigation Services, Colorado and by Jim Salinger and Greg Bodeker of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand, asserted that ExxonMobil is to blame for around five percent of greenhouse gases that are driving global warming. The studies claimed that since ExxonMobil began as Standard Oil in 1882, the company’s oil and gas products have released 20.3 billion tones of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. According the studies, this is equivalent to 4.7-5.3 percent of the world total of man-made CO2.
• Over 300 Esso filling stations in the UK were targeted by 3000 protesters on December 1, 2001 who urged consumers to boycott Esso because of its stance on global warming. ExxonMobil is the parent of Esso, and has opposed the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change.
• In April 2001, the world's green parties agreed to launch an international boycott against ExxonMobil in protest against the company's alleged role in getting George W. Bush elected and its activities in campaigning against the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.
• In May 2003, Greenpeace Global Warming Crimes Unit converged on ExxonMobil's corporate compound in Irving, Texas, wielding a banner that read; "Global Warming Crime Scene." The Greenpeace protest, arranged to coincide with ExxonMobil's Board of Directors Annual General Meeting, aimed at exposing what the organization has called "a 10-year campaign of sabotage against international efforts to solve global warming." The protestors accused "company executives of using corporate influence and money to block agreements that would reduce global warming pollution. Citing copies of classified documents, Corpwatch claimed that ExxonMobil gives millions of dollars to ultra-conservative groups that aggressively lobby against action to protect our climate and direct President Bush's extreme energy policies. According to Greenpeace, ExxonMobil’s corporate influence has enabled the company to " sabotage action on global warming, and lie to the American people."
• Campaign ExxonMobil, a group of religious shareholder activists, has targeted ExxonMobil for its stand on global warming. The activists claim that ExxonMobil continues to run a multi-million dollar campaign to confuse the public and policymakers about global warming and sap political energies focused on the issue. The Campaign further alleges that ExxonMobil aggressively pushes for "more global oil consumption, despite the risks, and is actively working internationally to kill the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
• Multinational Monitor named Exxon Mobil as one of the "10 Worst Corporations of 2001" for its "stubborn refusal to acknowledge the fact that burning fossil fuels has a role in global warming." The company continues to fund public relations and lobbing campaigns that deny the aspects of global warming.

-- Agence France-Presse, 01/29/2004
Source URL: none available

Discrimination
ExxonMobil has been criticized for failing to include sexual orientation in its non-discrimination policy:

• On May 25, 2005, 29.4 percent (representing more than 1.55 billion shares) of ExxonMobil shareholders voted in favor of a resolution to amend the company’s written equal employment opportunity policy to include the category of sexual orientation. According to the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay and lesbian organization, "ExxonMobil is the only Fortune 50 company not to include sexual orientation in its primary non-discrimination policy. With companies now adding protections based on gender identity and expression, it's past time for ExxonMobil’s leaders to give up their stubborn refusal to enact such policies."
• Before merging with Exxon in 1999, Mobil Corp. offered such written protection, and domestic partner benefits, to its employees; however, upon its 1999 merger with Exxon, the basic non-discrimination protection was removed and the domestic partner benefits program closed to new employees. Twenty-four members of Congress, and thousands of stockholders and consumers, wrote to ExxonMobil Chairman Lee R. Raymond in December 1999 to protest the policy reversals.

-- Human Rights Campaign, 05/25/2005
Source URL: http://tinyurl.com/crgp8

Global Warming
ExxonMobil has been criticized for its position on Global Warming:

• On May 25, 2005, ExxonMobil shareholders voted on two resolutions regarding global warming. The first resolution called for the company's board of directors to undertake a comprehensive review on how it will meet the greenhouse gas reduction targets in countries participating in the Kyoto Protocol. 28.3 percent of shareholders supported the resolution, representing 1.5 billion shares with a market value of about $83.8 billion. ExxonMobil management opposes the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to halt human-induced global warming.
• Second, a resolution requesting that the company explain the scientific basis for its ongoing denial about human activities contributing to global warming received 10.3 percent of shareholder votes. Voting against the viewpoint of ExxonMobil's management, 10.3 percent (roughly 655.6 million shares worth more than $36 billion) of ExxonMobil shareholders voted in favor of the resolution requesting "...by the 2006 annual shareholder meeting, the (XOM) Board of Directors make available to shareholders the research data relevant to ExxonMobil's stated position on the science of climate change, omitting proprietary information and at reasonable cost."
• ExxonMobil believes the scientific evidence behind global warming "remains inconclusive," making it one of the last major oil and gas companies to deny global warming exists. Several of its major competitors, including BP and Shell, have acknowledged global warming and are taking steps to reduce their emissions in response.

-- CSRwire, 05/25/2005
Source URL: http://www.csrwire.com/article.cgi/3988.html

Disclosure
According to the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR), internal memos from Mobil, Chevron and Texaco showed that the companies knowingly reduced their refining capabilities in order to drive gas prices up and calculated efforts to shut out independent processors. The memos implicate the American Petroleum Institute as having advised major oil conglomerates to withhold product from the market in order to increase profits.

-- Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights, 09/07/2005
Source URL: www.consumerwatchdog.org/energy/pr/

Biological Diversity and Habitats
ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP, as well as a handful of other exploration and pipeline companies are being charged in a class-action lawsuit filed weeks after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of southern Louisiana. The class-action case faults oil and exploration companies for heightening the level of ruin caused by the hurricane. Plaintiffs claim that in efforts to uncover oil and natural gas, these companies indiscriminately and irresponsibly dredged the coastal wetlands of Louisiana, which serve as a critical natural buffer against storm surges and flooding. The case was filed on behalf of all Hurricane Katrina survivors.

-- AFX News Limited, 09/23/2005
Source URL: www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2005/09/23/afx2241383.html

Environment
In a settlement with the federal government and three southern states over the company’s failure to adequately observe Clean Air Act provisions, Exxon Mobile is to install new pollution controls at seven of its oil refineries, a move that will cost approximately $571 million. Exxon’s unlawful polluting has resulted in additional fines of $8.7 million, and a requirement that the company invest $9.7 million in environmental projects near its refineries, such one coastal habitat restoration project in Louisiana.

-- Washington Post, 10/11/2005
Source URL: w.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR2005101101090.html...

Equal Opportunity
According to the Social Investment Research Analyst Network, ten years after the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission recommended disclosure of diversity data as a way to remove barriers and promote women and minority advancement, most US companies still fail to fully disclose EEO data to the public. ExxonMobil is listed as one of the companies that does not provide full public disclosure. Rather, disclosure of EEO data is made available upon request.

-- Social Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN), 12/07/2005
Source URL: http://www.siran.org

Executive Compensation
Retiring Exxon chairman Lee Raymond is receiving a $400 million retirement package amid skyrocketing gas prices. Raymond was payed a salary of $51.1 million for 2005. At a congression hearing in November 2005, Raymond testified that inflated gas prices were only due to global supply and demand.

-- ABC News, 04/14/2006
Source URL: none available

Animal Testing
Exxon conducts testing on animals.

-- U.S. Department of Agriculture
Source URL: www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/lists/listr.pdf

Disclosure
In April 2002, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission denied ExxonMobil's request to omit three shareowner resolutions from its proxy, but allowed it to omit two other proposals. The SEC allows companies to petition for removal of shareowner resolutions from proxy statement by citing specific rules that the resolution breaches. The SEC denied the company's request to exclude resolutions regarding executive compensation, renewable energy, and human rights, but allowed it to drop resolutions on board diversity and splitting the job functions of the CEO and Chairman. "Rather than address concerns about ExxonMobil's environmental accountability directly, ExxonMobil chose to go to the SEC to try to cut off debate," said Reverend Michael Crosby of the Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order, the primary shareowner filer of a resolution on renewable energy. "This company simply refuses to address these issues head on in a responsible manner."

-- SocialFunds.com
Source URL: www.socialfunds.com

Greenhouse Gas Emissions
ExxonMobil, which has reportedly set no targets for reductions in CO2 emissions, has confirmed that its greenhouse gas emissions rose 2% in 2003 to 135.6 million tons. Exxon’s worsening emissions may be caused, in part, by an increase of flaring of gas in Nigeria. Flaring, which is illegal in most countries, is when natural gas is extracted simultaneously with oil and burned off straight into the atmosphere. Exxon's emissions are more than 50% higher than their closest competitor's, despite only a slightly larger production of oil and gas.

-- Ethical Corporation
Source URL: www.ethicalcorp.com

Health and Safety
In July 2001, the Australian Victorian Supreme Court fined ExxonMobil affiliate Esso $1 million after finding the company guilty of 11 criminal charges involving a 1998 explosion that killed two workers at a refinery in Victoria. The company pleaded not guilty to the charges despite the findings of a royal commission in June 1999 that blamed Esso's poor staff training, operating, and safety procedures. The fine was the largest ever imposed in Australia in a health and safety case.

-- Oil Daily, 07/31/2001
Source URL: none available

Corporate Influence
Under the Freedom of Information Act, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) received a memorandum from the White House Council on Environmental Quality detailing plans to remove a top scientist from an international panel that provides policymakers with global warming assessments. The document detailed ExxonMobil's confidential campaign to remove Dr. Robert Watson from his chair on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a position he held since 1996. The NRDC reports that the campaign began in the first weeks of the Bush Administration, and that the memo "reveals ExxonMobil's intention to replace Watson and other key scientists with contrarians known for disagreeing with the prevailing consensus that man-made pollution is causing global warming." The administration has since decided to oppose Watson's appointment to a second term as chair.

-- Natural Resources Defense Council, 04/03/2002
Source URL: www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/020403.asp

Ethics
ExxonMobil has been criticized for its corporate ethics practices:

• In May 2001, a federal judge ordered ExxonMobil to pay $10 million to independent Exxon gas station operators in Texas who alleged that the company had charged them higher prices for wholesale gasoline than local Exxon-owned gas stations were paying. The independent dealers claim that they were told by ExxonMobil that private dealers no longer fit into the company's vision for the future and they are convinced the company is trying to put them out of business.
• In February 2001, ExxonMobil was ordered to pay $500 million to gas station operators after a jury determined that the company had cheated them in a gas discount plan. The owners claimed that during the 1980s and 1990s Exxon made a deal with them to sell gas for 3 cents less to customers using an Exxon credit card. In exchange the retailers were told they would be reimbursed with lower wholesale prices. However, the station owners claim they were never given the lower prices. A first trial in 1999 resulted in a hung jury. The company said it would appeal the current decision.
• In May 2001, a judge upheld a jury verdict awarding $3.4 billion in punitive damages against ExxonMobil Corp. for deliberately underpaying the state of Alabama for natural gas royalties. The judge stated: ''Exxon engaged in egregious, intentional fraud by which it sought to deprive Alabama of hundreds of millions of dollars, probably well over $1 billion. '' In April 2002 Exxon Mobil appealed the case to the state Supreme Court arguing the verdict was excessive and unwarranted.
• In May 2002, human rights advocates began calling for an investigation of the role of US oil companies and the Bush administration in Angola’s "Arms for Oil" scandal. According to a report by the British-based non-governmental organization Global Witness, Bush and US oil interests had ties to some of the key figures in the arms-for-oil scandal. Global Witness alleged that in exchange for profitable off-shore oil concessions, ExxonMobil and other American and western European oil companies funded Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos. After transferring an alleged $770 million in oil revenues to their own private bank accounts, dos Santos and his administration began a violent offensive against rebel groups in the country in which many human rights abuses were inflicted on the Angolan people.
• In April 2003, federal prosecutors announced a probe into ExxonMobil's dealings with James Giffen, a US businessman accused of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to Kazakhstani officials overseeing the country's lucrative oil concessions. Giffen was arrested in March 2003, and charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by funnelling more than $78m in payments from US oil companies - including Mobil, Texaco, Amoco and Phillips Petroleum - to two senior Kazakh officials. Much of the alleged bribes originated with Mobil's purchase of a 25 percent stake in the Tengiz field in 1996 for about $1billion. The company has denied any knowledge of improper payments.

-- CorpWatch, 05/01/2002
Source URL: www.corpwatch.org

Chemical Spills or Accidents
ExxonMobil has been criticized for its involvement in chemical spills and accidents:

• In 2002, a government panel overseeing the restoration of Prince William Sound--site of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill--reported that while some seabird and salmon species have fully recovered from the spill, other species including herring, ducks, harbor seals, and loons have not showed signs of recovery. The study also categorized certain species--orcas, sea otters and clams--as still recovering. The company argued with the findings, saying the council uses a flawed definition of recovery, which requires a return to pre-spill numbers, even though other factors, such as climate shifts, are causing massive changes in Alaska's wildlife. (See related Alert items.)
• In January 2004, Russell Holland, a federal judge in Anchorage, ordered ExxonMobil to pay almost $7 billion in punitive damages and interest to thousands of fishermen and others affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The money is to go to 32,000 fishermen, Alaska Natives, landowners, small businessmen and municipalities affected by the nearly 11 million gallon spill in Prince William Sound. A spokesperson for ExxonMobil said the company would appeal the ruling, saying that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has twice vacated Holland's decision in the case. Holland had been ordered by the appellate court to reconsider the damages of an earlier decision. Gov. Frank Murkowski noted that while the decision "moves the process on," Exxon's plans to appeal signify there's no end in sight to the legal dispute that has dragged on for a decade. "It would be helpful if the two parties would consider discussing a settlement, so that any award that might come from the lawsuit could have application during the lifetime of the thousands of plaintiffs."
• A survey done in the summer of 2001 revealed that oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill still lingers in large amounts throughout Prince William Sound. According to the survey, which was conducted by a field crew from Auke Bay Laboratory of Juneau, "the oil was quite a bit more persistent and quite a bit more toxic than we thought in 1989." The study further documents problems with wildlife that forage in the areas, such as liver damage in otters and hydrocarbons in harlequin ducks. (See related Alert item.)
• In September 2002 ExxonMobil agreed to pay $4.7 million to settle a lawsuit over a 1991 accident in which a pipeline operated by Mobil Oil burst spilling 74,000 gallons of oil in the Santa Clara River in California.
• In July 2001, the Plainview Water District, one of the largest suppliers of drinking water on Long Island, New York, sued Exxon Mobil Corp. for water contamination by MTBE, a gasoline additive that was initially used to help gasoline burn "cleaner," but that was later found to be a carcinogen. The water district is seeking $2 billion in punitive damages and $500 million in compensatory damages for a gasoline spill at a now-closed Mobil station in Plainview. The Plainview Water District, which serves about 35,000 Long Island residents, said the additive has not yet spread from the groundwater to its 11 drinking wells. But it alleges that Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company, has known about the spill and has done nothing to prevent it from spreading.

-- Associated Press, 01/28/2004
Source URL: none available

Health and Safety
According to a 2004 CorpWatch article, British Columbia’s newly thriving oil and gas industry, headlined by large multinationals such as ExxonMobil, has led to elevated health and safety concerns for oil workers and citizens of the province. Presently, under Canadian law, sour gas wells can be drilled within a hundred meters of private homes, said a staff lawyer for West Coast Environmental Law. According to CorpWatch, between 2002 and 2004, at least two workers died from sour gas exposure in the BC Peace River region. The Workers Compensation Board, however, estimates the number of deaths to be four to five a year.

-- CorpWatch, 03/13/2004
Source URL: www.corpwatch.org

Corporate Influence
ExxonMobil contributed $250,000 to the 2005 Presidential Inaugural Committee, the maximum amount set by the committee for donations.

-- Presidential Inaugural Committee
Source URL: www.inaugural05.com/donors/

Executive Compensation
In 2004, Chairman and CEO Lee Raymond made $38,076,382 in total compensation including stock option grants from Exxon Mobil. From previous years' stock option grants, the executive cashed out $43,649,925 in stock option exercises. Raymond has another $65,077,965 in unexercised stock options from previous years.

-- AFL-CIO
Source URL: www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/ceou/database.cfm?tkr=XOM&pg=1

Greenwashing
ExxonMobil was named one of the "Top Ten Greenwashers" in 2003 by the Earthday Resources for Living Green. The company was cited for its contribution of $100 million to the Global Climate and Energy Project over a course of ten years while at the same time it will spend $100 billion on oil exploration. Additionally, Exxon Mobil historically has attacked most climate change studies and the company's stance regarding global warming as "uncertain" remains unchanged.

-- Earthday Resources for Living Green
Source URL: www.earthdayresources.org/publications/dbf2003.html#2

Toxic Emissions or Discharges
In 2004, Texas fined Exxon Mobil $150,462 for violations of air pollution regulations at the company’s refinery in Beaumont, Texas. A statement issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says the 15 violations, discovered during routine investigations in 2002, include failure to limit emissions during refinery malfunctions, failure to repair and perform monitoring of equipment, recordkeeping failures and failure to install required equipment

-- Ethical Corporation
Source URL: www.ethicalcorp.com

Discrimination
ExxonMobil achieved a score of 14 on the Human Rights Campaign 2003 Corporate Equality Index which rates large corporations on policies that affect their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. The 2003 HRC Corporate Equality Index rated 250 companies on a scale of 0 percent to 100 percent on seven factors. The company also achieved a score of 14 on the organization's 2002 Corporate Equality Index.

-- Human Rights Campaign, 06/25/1905
Source URL: www.hrc.org

Legal Disputes
In January 2001, the state of Texas sued ExxonMobil for millions in unpaid mineral royalties. The company is charged with " wrongfully and knowingly" drilling oil and gas from state property next to the state-owned Hawkins Field in Wood County in eastern Texas. The company stated "we are extremely troubled by the arbitrary manner in which the State has chosen to handle this issue. It appears that the State has chosen litigation as opposed to discussion as its preferred means for issue resolution." As of April 2004, the case is unresolved.

-- Bloomberg News, 01/04/2001
Source URL: none available

Biological Diversity and Habitats
In August 2001 Greenpeace asked ExxonMobil to declare a moratorium on seismic tests--a series of underwater explosions--conducted near Sakhalin, which is feeding grounds for endangered Gray whales. The organization asked the company to halt the tests, which they said are illegal, until the conclusion of further research into the causes in the decrease of the population of these whales. Western Pacific Gray whales were declared a critically endangered species last year by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) after studies by Russian and American scientists showed that there are less than 100 of these whales and only 12 of them are known to be bearing young.

A spokeperson for ExxonMobil stated, ""The seismic survey uses air guns that release compressed air, generating sound waves under the water. This technology has been used for more than 30 years in various parts of the world, with negligible impact on the marine environment. There have been no documented injuries to marine mammals from using these air guns. We've put in a buffer zone of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) for gray whales and if we observe them within that radius, then we shut down seismic testing until the whales leave. "

-- Bloomberg News, 08/30/2001
Source URL: www.greenpeace.org

Worker Benefits
In June 2003, Global Exchange cited ExxonMobil’s construction project on a new African pipeline as a potential impetus for the spread of HIV in Chad. As of 2003, Chad's isolation from other African nations had contributed to the country's low HIV infection rate—roughly one third of the average rate for a Sub-Saharan nation. Activists, who have urged ExxonMobil to treat pipeline employees found to be HIV-infected, claimed that the company's health care and awareness initiatives were minimal. Citing that the cost of such measures would have been prohibitive, the company allegedly stated its position: ExxonMobil was sharing oil revenue with Chad and health care was the government's responsibility.

-- Los Angles Times, 06/18/2003
Source URL: none available

Legal Disputes
In November 2003, the Mobile, AL community chosen as the future site of a proposed ExxonMobil liquefied natural gas terminal sued the state's Port Authority over its affirmative vote on the proposal. The community claims that the Port Authority declined their requests to have independent studies assess the proposed project’s site-specific health and safety issues. Presently, the property sale is estimated at $39.4 million, which the Mobile community argues is insufficient to combat the impact a LNG plant would have ''on the fisheries, and on the local people that live within a quarter-mile to one-and-a-half miles of this thing.'' As of November 2003, ExxonMobil was negotiationing to obtain rights to build LNG terminals at two additional Gulf Coast locations: Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi, Texas. If approved, these terminals will receive Liquefied Natural Gas imports from Qatar, as part of the company’s 25-year production and supply agreement with Qatar Petroleum.

-- McGraw Hill Companies, 11/07/2003
Source URL: none available

Animal Welfare
In January 2004, PETA initiated a letter-writing campaign against ExxonMobil, one of the 2004 sponsors of Alaska’s Iditarod dog sled race, urging the company to withdraw its sponsorship of the event based upon the cruel treatment of sledding dogs. PETA has claimed that of the hundreds of dogs abused and exploited during the 1,000+ mile trek, several die annually from "sudden death syndrome" (which often means they were run to death by mushers). Furthermore, PETA has claimed that puppies labeled poor runners by breeders, are usually killed by bludgeoning or drowning.

-- PETA, 01/01/2004
Source URL: www.peta.org

Discrimination
In November 2002 a lawsuit was filed against ExxonMobil and 19 other companies for reparations because of alleged support to the apartheid regime that ruled South Africa until 1994. The case, which was filed by the Khulumani Support Group, seeks compensatory and punitive damages for more than 32,000 South Africans hurt by apartheid. The suit claims that arms manufacturers and oil companies violated internationally agreed embargoes on sales to South Africa.

-- The Nation, 05/15/2003
Source URL: none available

Brands and Affiliates

Brands: none listed

Affiliates:
- Aera Energy - Maricopa, CA
- BEB Erdgas Und Erdol Gmbh - Hannover, Germany
- Canada Imperial Oil Limited - Toronto, Canada
- Cook Inlet Pipe Line Co. - Anchorage, AK
- Cool Creek Agencies Ltd. - Kamloops, Canada
- Dexco Polymers, L.P. - Houston, TX
- Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited - Bangkok, Thailand
- Esso Aktiengesellschaft - Hamburg, Germany
- Esso Australia Resources Ltd. - Melbourne, Australia
- Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd. - Melbourne, Australia
- Esso Avitat Calgary - Calgary, Canada
- Esso Brasileira de Petroleo Limitada - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Esso Eastern Inc. - Houston, TX
- Esso Exploration & Production UK Limited - Surrey, United Kingdom
- Esso Inc. - Machelen, Belgium
- Esso Italiana S.p.A. - Rome, Italy
- Esso Italiana s.r.l. - Rome, Italy
- Esso Malaysia Berhad - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Esso Mobil House AG - Vienna, Austria
- Esso Nederland B.V. - Breda, Netherlands
- Esso Norge a.s. - Oslo, Norway
- Esso Petroleum Company Ltd. - Leatherhead, United Kingdom
- Esso Petroleum Company, Limited - Surrey, United Kingdom
- Esso Schweiz GmbH - Zurich, Switzerland
- Esso Sociedad Anonima Petroleum Argentina S.R.L. - Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise - Rueil-Malmaison, France
- Esso Standard Oil Company Puerto Rico - Guaynabo, PR
- Esso Standard Oil S.A. Limited - Nassau, Bahamas
- Esso Standard Thailand Ltd. - Bangkok, Thailand
- ESSO Virgin Island Inc. - Charlotte Amalie, VI
- Exxon Chemical Limited - Fareham, United Kingdom
- Exxon Computing Services Company - Houston, TX
- Exxon Mobil - Aberdeen, United Kingdom
- Exxon Mobil Canada Ltd. - Drayton Valley, Canada
- Exxon Mobil Canada Ltd. - Leduc, Canada
- Exxon Mobil Canada Ltd. - Pennant Station, Canada
- Exxon Mobil Petroleum Chemical - Maasmechelen, Belgium
- Exxon Mobile Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. - Singapore, Singapore
- Exxon Mobile Exploration & Production Malaysia Inc. - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Exxon Oil Pipeline Divison - Beaumont, TX
- Exxon Pipeline Company - Houston, TX
- Exxon Research & Engineering Co. - Annandale, NJ
- Exxon Tiger Mart - San Antonio, TX
- Exxon Yemen Inc. - Houston, TX
- ExxonMobil - Hammond, IN
- ExxonMobil - San Diego, CA
- ExxonMobil - Singapore, Singapore
- ExxonMobil Aircraft Operations - Dulles, VA
- ExxonMobil Chemical - Baton Rouge, LA
- ExxonMobil Chemical - Houston, TX
- ExxonMobil Chemical Co.- Film Div. - Lagrange, GA
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company (Subsidiary) - Houston, TX
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company - Farmington Hills, MI
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company - Mont Belvieu, TX
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company Inc. - Beaumont, TX
- ExxonMobil Chemical Company Inc. - Shawnee, OK
- ExxonMobil Chemical Films Canada, Ltd. - Belleville, Canada
- ExxonMobil Chemical Limited - Fareham, United Kingdom
- ExxonMobil Clear Light Production Gas Plant - Houston, TX
- ExxonMobil Coal and Minerals Company - Houston, TX
- ExxonMobil Corp. - Albany, NY
- ExxonMobil Corp. - Beckley, WV
- ExxonMobil Corp. - Channahon, IL
- ExxonMobil Corp. - Dallas, TX
- ExxonMobil Corp. - Grand Isle, LA
- ExxonMobil Corp. - Hennessey, OK
- ExxonMobil Corp. - La Barge, WY
- ExxonMobil Corp. - Oak Grove, LA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Anchorage, AK
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Atlanta, GA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Atmore, AL
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Baytown, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Beaumont, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Burlington, NJ
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Centerville, LA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Chalmette, LA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Channahon, IL
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Coden, AL
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Conroe, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Exton, PA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Fairfax, VA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Freer, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Gillette, WY
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Glenwood, AR
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Grand Isle, LA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Hendersonville, TN
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Houston, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Irving, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Kaplan, LA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Kemmerer, WY
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Kingsville, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Midland, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Morse, LA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - New London, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Overton, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Paulsboro, NJ
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Pismo Beach, CA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Port Allen, LA
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Saint Paul, MN
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Seminole, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Skillman, NJ
- ExxonMobil Corporation - South Portland, ME
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Talco, TX
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Tokyo, Japan
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Washington, DC
- ExxonMobil Corporation - Wilson, OK
- ExxonMobil Down Stream - Fairfax, VA
- ExxonMobil Downstream Business Services - Irving, TX
- ExxonMobil Exploration - Houston, TX
- ExxonMobil Fuels Marketing - Fairfax, VA
- ExxonMobil Ghana Ltd. - Accra, Ghana
- ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC - Irving, TX
- ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited - Wanchai, China (Hong Kong)
- ExxonMobil Lubricants & Petroleum Specialties - Fairfax, VA
- ExxonMobil Mexico S.A. de C.V. - Mexico, Mexico
- ExxonMobil Oil Canada Ltd. - Rainbow Lake, Canada
- ExxonMobil Oil Corp. - Channahon, IL
- ExxonMobil Oil Corporation - Beaumont, TX
- ExxonMobil Oil Corporation - Dallas, TX
- ExxonMobil Oil Corporation - Fort Lauderdale, FL
- ExxonMobil Oil Corporation - Hull, TX
- ExxonMobil Oil Corporation - Nashville, TN
- ExxonMobil Oil Corporation Piceance Creek Unit - Rifle, CO
- ExxonMobil Oil Corporation Research and Development - Paulsboro, NJ
- ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia, Inc. - Jakarta, Indonesia
- ExxonMobil Oil Pipeline Company - Doniphan, MO
- ExxonMobil Pipe Line Company - Houston, TX
- ExxonMobil Pipe Line Company - Taft, CA
- ExxonMobil Pipeline - Mokena, IL
- ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. - Grand Isle, LA
- ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. - Keller, TX
- ExxonMobil Pipeline Company - Bridger, MT
- ExxonMobil Pipeline Company - Longview, TX
- ExxonMobil Pipeline Company - Port Allen, LA
- ExxonMobil Pipeline Company - Webster, TX
- ExxonMobil Pipeline Company Inc. - Caspiana, LA
- ExxonMobil Refining & Supplies - Baton Rouge, LA
- ExxonMobil Refining & Supply - Billings, MT
- ExxonMobil Refining & Supply - Fairfax, VA
- ExxonMobil Research & Engineering - Fairfax, VA
- ExxonMobil Research & Engineering - Paulsboro, NJ
- ExxonMobil Sales And Supply Co. - Fairfax, VA
- ExxonMobil Synthetics Plant - Edison, NJ
- ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha - Tokyo, Japan
- Gastransport Services - Groningen, Netherlands
- Global Aviation - Fairfax, VA
- Imperial Oil - Nanticoke, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Anjou, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Barrie, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Bracebridge, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Canora, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Carman, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Claresholm, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Corner Brook, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Dartmouth, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Flin Flon, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Nanticoke, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Ottawa, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Saint John's, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Sarnia, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Saskatoon, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Sault Sainte Marie, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Sudbury, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited - Toronto, Canada
- Imperial Oil Limited Products Division - Edmonton, Canada
- Imperial Oil Ltd. - Chilliwack, Canada
- Imperial Oil Ltd.-Gas Station - Woodstock, Canada
- Imperial Oil Resources Limited - Calgary, Canada
- Imperial Oil Resources Limited - Norman Wells, Canada
- Imperial Oil Resources Limited - Thorsby, Canada
- Imperial Oil Resources Ltd. - Redwater, Canada
- Infineum USA LP - Linden, NJ
- J. Mesmen Trucking Ltd. - Labrador City, Canada
- Mobil Ami, S.A. - Bogota, Colombia
- Mobil Chemical Company Inc. - Beaumont, TX
- Mobil Chemical Company Inc. - Edison, NJ
- Mobil Corporation - Hallettsville, TX
- Mobil Data Services, Ltd. - Maidstone, United Kingdom
- Mobil ERDGAS-ERDOEL (GmbH) - Hamburg, Germany
- Mobil Europe, Ltd. - Surrey, United Kingdom
- Mobil Exploration Norway, Inc. - Oslo, Norway
- Mobil Oil A.G. - Hamburg, Germany
- Mobil Oil A/S Norge - Oslo, Norway
- Mobil Oil AB - Gothenburg, Sweden
- Mobil Oil Australia Ltd. - Melbourne, Australia
- Mobil Oil Canada Ltd. - Lloydminster, Canada
- Mobil Oil Canada Ltd. - Olds, Canada
- Mobil Oil Canada, Ltd. - Toronto, Canada
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Beaumont, TX
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Brooklyn, NY
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Buffalo, NY
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Center, TX
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Diamond Bar, CA
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Flint, MI
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Green Bay, WI
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Guymon, OK
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Harrisburg, PA
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Hearne, TX
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Lawrence, NY
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Paulsboro, NJ
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Plano, TX
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Ringgold, TX
- Mobil Oil Corporation - San Ardo, CA
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Schenectady, NY
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Streamwood, IL
- Mobil Oil Corporation - Torrance, CA
- Mobil Oil Cyprus - Nicosia, Cyprus
- Mobil Oil Danmark A/S - Birkerod, Denmark
- Mobil Oil Del Peru S A R L - Lima, Peru
- Mobil Oil Egypt (S.A.E.) - Cairo, Egypt
- Mobil Oil New Zealand Ltd. - Wellington, New Zealand
- Mobil Oil Nigeria Ltd. - Lagos, Nigeria
- Mobil Oil Oy A.B. - Espoo, Finland
- Mobil Oil Turk AS - Istanbul, Turkey
- Mobil On The Run - Mesa, AZ
- Mobil Pipeline Company - Corsicana, TX
- Mobil Producing Nigeria - Lagos, Nigeria
- Monterey Coal Inc. - Carlinville, IL
- Montreal Pipe Line Limited - Montreal, Canada
- Montreal Pipe Line Limited - Saint Cesaire, Canada
- N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie - Groningen, Netherlands
- Neches River Treatment Corp. - Beaumont, TX
- NV Nederlandse Gasunuie - Groningen, Netherlands
- Paul Lizotte Fuel Limited - Bracebridge, Canada
- Paul Lizotte Fuels Ltd. - North Bay, Canada
- Portland Pipe Line Corporation - South Portland, ME
- Progas A/S - Oslo, Norway
- Saudi Arabian Lubricating Oil Company - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Company - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd. - Yanbu, Saudi Arabia
- Seariver Maritime Financial Holdings - Houston, TX
- South Island Fields Ltd. - Victoria, Canada
- Tom Lynn Fuel Limited - Saint Catharines, Canada
- TonenGeneral Sekiyu K.K. (Subsidiary) - Tokyo, Japan
- TriState Petroleum - Carnegie, PA
- Univation Technologies, LLC - Houston, TX
- Upstream Technical Computing Company - Houston, TX

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