Free Republic

Sometimes we wonder if we’re still living in the land of the free. Witness the subpoena from Claude Walker, attorney general of the U.S. Virgin Islands, demanding that the Competitive Enterprise Institute cough up a decade of emails and policy work, as well as a list of private donors. Mr. Walker is frustrated that the free-market think tank won’t join the modern church of climatology, so he has joined the rapidly expanding club of Democratic politicians and prosecutors harassing dissenters. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman started the assault last autumn with a subpoena barrage on Exxon Mobil. His demand...

Exxon Mobil has been rate AAA by S&P since 1930 according to Bloomberg. Today that ended as the global crude explorer with sales that dwarf the economies of most nations was cut to AA+ (Outlook stable). Having been put on notice in February (negative watch), citing concern that credit measures would remain weak through 2018. Credit measures will be weak for a AAA rating due, in part, to low commodity prices, high reinvestment requirements and large dividend payments, S&P says. Maintaining production and replacing reserves will eventually require higher spending, S&P says. Greatest business challenge is replacing co.’s ongoing production, S&P says....

The Washington Free Beacon has obtained the agenda from a January 9 meeting of prominent climate change groups and the Rockefeller Foundation, whose purpose was to discuss ways to destroy ExxonMobil through legal action, divestment efforts, and political pressure.

A lockdown is in effect at the ExxonMobile refinery in Baytown after a security breach. Company officials say around 7:30am, a person went inside the plant without permission. "We take matters of this nature very seriously and are working closely with Baytown Police Department," says Todd Spitler, spokesman for Exxon Mobil.

An enormous fire erupted an ExxonMobil refinery in Texas on Thursday. The Baytown refinery caught fire, leading to huge black plumes of smoke into the air, visible from downtown Houston. Almost as soon as the fire in the ExxonMobil refinery was extinguished, we got reports of a fire in a refinery belonging to LyondellBasell Industries. CNBC reported that the fire occured in the coker unit of the refinery that can process over 263.000 barrels per day.

Everyone is familiar with oil giant Exxon Mobil, so it should be no surprise that investors have kept XOM shares under pressure as oil prices hover near lows that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. What many investors do not realize though is that Exxon is more than just an oil company – the firm also owns the fourth largest chemical company in the world, Exxon Mobil Chemical.

Exxon’s stock price will see no major impact, the company’s behavior is unlikely to change (at least, I hope so), and there is absolutely no connection between oil company equity prices and the world’s emissions of greenhouse gases. If the Rockefellers and their supporters want to accomplish something, offer a prize for new, low-carbon energy sources or methods of carbon sequestration. Lobby for a carbon tax, and price reform in the many countries with subsidies for fossil fuel use. Pressure the Russians to lower prices for natural gas, especially to China. Invest in a gas pipeline to India from the Caspian...

Moody’s put Chevron (CVX) on review for a downgrade on expected negative free cash flow and changed Exxon Mobil‘s (XOM) debt rating outlook to negative, as lower capital reinvestment will likely haunt the oil major for the rest of the decade. The ratings agency predicts negative free cash flow this year and next at Chevron, according to a note from Pete Speer, Moody’s senior vice president. He thinks negative free cash flow could even continue until 2018. Last month Chevron cut its capital spending for this year by 25% vs. 2015, but Moody’s sees negative free cash flow to exceeded...

Global energy demand will increase 25% between 2014 and 2040, driven by population growth and economic expansion, according to ExxonMobil Corp.'s 2016 Outlook for Energy. Most of this growth will occur in nations outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. At the same time, the carbon intensity of the global economy will decline by half because of energy efficiency gains and increased use of renewable energy sources and lower carbon fuels, such as natural gas. In 2040, oil will provide one third of the world's energy, remaining the No. 1 source of fuel, and natural gas will move into...

New York Attorney General (AG) Eric Schneiderman has opened an investigation into Exxon Mobil, the world's largest energy company, and subpoenaed all company documents related to climate change research since 1977. His office says it's an effort to find out whether executives "lied to the public about the risks of climate change or to investors about how such risks might hurt the oil business." This follows on the heels of calls from 50 environmental groups, both major Democratic candidates for the presidency, and Democratic members of Congress for a federal probe into the firm. Although the push for a federal...

New York state's attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, and US Rep. Ted Lieu (D) of California are both looking into whether the world's largest publicly traded oil and gas company intentionally misled the public and company shareholders about its own knowledge of climate change and the inherent risks it posed to the oil industry. The outcry started in September, when InsideClimate News published an investigation asserting that, since the 1970s, ExxonMobil, has known of fossil fuels' contribution to climate change. The company's own scientists are said to have raised concerns that were contradicted by executives. Another inquiry published in the Los...

Could ExxonMobil be guilty of fraud for taking a public stance on global warming? New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman thinks so, and news that he’s demanded years of records from the oil giant shows how creative some lawyers have become in using litigation to try and achieve the sort of policy changes once left to legislators. The New York Times reports Schneiderman issued a subpoena Wednesday evening seeking emails, financial records and other information about the company’s activities around climate science since the late 1970s, “including a period of at least a decade,” the Times says, “when ExxonMobil funded...

The New York attorney general has begun an investigation of Exxon Mobil to determine whether the company lied to the public about the risks of climate change or to investors about how such risks might hurt the oil business. According to people with knowledge of the investigation, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman issued a subpoena Wednesday evening to Exxon Mobil, demanding extensive financial records, emails and other documents. The investigation focuses on whether statements the company made to investors about climate risks as recently as this year were consistent with the company’s own long-running scientific research. The people said the...

Canada has given oil sands a dirty reputation, but a breakthrough, commercially viable technology has caught the eye of a former Exxon Mobil president who is putting it to use to clean up Utah’s billions of barrels of oil sands. Imagine extracting high-quality oil out of the estimated 32 billion barrels buried in Utah’s oil sands, without creating the toxic wastelands that have resulted from oil sands projects in Western Canada. And imagine doing it at a cost that can still turn a profit in today’s oil price slump. That would be highly enticing to some of the large operators...

In the wake of two videos allegedly showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of aborted fetal body parts, Republicans in Congress are working to ensure that Planned Parenthood is stripped of its federal funding. However, it’s not only the government that fills Planned Parenthood’s coffers. According to 2nd Vote, a website and app that tracks the flow of money from consumers to political causes, more than 25 percent of Planned Parenthood’s $1.3-billion annual revenue comes from private donations, which includes corporate contributions. 2nd Vote researched the corporations and organizations to find which supported Planned Parenthood and found that more...

After years of opposing efforts to fight climate change, Europe’s biggest oil and gas corporations have made a stunning about-face. Noticeably absent from the corporate push for a carbon price were U.S. oil behemoths Chevron and Exxon Mobil.

The U.K. government wants BP to still stand for “British Petroleum.” The Financial Times reported that Downing Street would do all it could to block a takeover of BP. Weakened and shrunken down due to the massive, and still rising, toll stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP could become a takeover target from one of the larger oil majors out there. Rumors have been swirling in recent weeks that perhaps ExxonMobil or Chevron could be eyeing the British oil giant, so much so that BP’s CEO Bob Dudley had to publicly dispel any notion that his company is for...

Exxon Mobil Corp. said Monday it had begun producing from its Hadrian South Gulf of Mexico project. Total production of the project is expected to reach about 300 million cubic feet of gas and 3,000 barrels of liquids per day from two wells. The well is located about 230 miles offshore and in about 7,650 feet of water. First production comes after a discovery well was drilled in 2008 and an appraisal well was completed in 2009. Exxon operates the Hadrian South project with a 46.7 percent interest while Brazil’s Petrobras and Italy’s Eni hold a 23.3 percent and 30...

Union Calls on Industry to Negotiate Solutions to Protect Workers and Communities(PITTSBURGH) -- An explosion and fire today at a refinery in Southern California underscores the United Steelworkers’ demand for improved safety conditions to protect both workers and communities.The explosion at the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, Calif., occurred as 5,200 members of the United Steelworkers (USW) are conducting unfair labor practice strikes at 11 refineries across the country with safety as a major concern.“Our members work in dangerous and too often deadly conditions,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “While employers have reaped billions of dollars in profits over...

Rex W. Tillerson ExxonMobil Corporate Headquarters 5959 Las Colinas Boulevard Irving, Texas 75039-2298 Dear Mr. Tillerson: This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar. Of all the American companies currently involved with Qatar, none is more responsible for Qatar’s economic success than ExxonMobil. Indeed, Qatar has the world’s highest per capita GDP, at $102,100 (2013). The United States has two massive military bases in Qatar: Al Udeid, the home of CENTCOM for the region, and As Sayliyah, the largest...