A long-term vision
A letter from Rex W. Tillerson, Chairman and CEO

By nearly any measure, 2008 was a year of extremes. Oil prices reached nearly $150 per barrel and later fell to below $50 a barrel. Our industry’s earnings, while near the average of most other industries’ in relative terms, broke records in absolute terms. At the same time, turmoil in global financial markets shook investor and consumer confidence, and again brought questions of corporate governance, business ethics, free market principles, and the role of government into the public spotlight.

In such turbulent times, successful companies are those that see business discipline and corporate citizenship as interlinked. We consider ExxonMobil’s philosophy of investing with a long-term perspective — rather than reacting to short-term market fluctuations — as a cornerstone of our successful business model. We believe companies that retain a systematic focus on corporate governance, ethics, safety, environmental performance, and community engagement in the down-cycle will be best placed to succeed in the up-cycle.

ExxonMobil’s role is to provide energy to sustain and improve standards of living for people worldwide while delivering a return to our shareholders. We are committed to taking on this challenge in a manner that reflects our own culture of integrity while balancing the components of sustainability — economic growth, social development, and environmental protection. Given the scale of our business and the diversity of cultures in which we operate, we find that the best way to achieve this is to embed the many aspects of corporate citizenship directly into our global business processes, so that they are clearly understood wherever we operate.

Despite the current economic downturn, we anticipate global demand for energy will grow significantly over the long term, particularly in the developing world. All economic energy sources will be important in meeting that demand. This includes sources such as nuclear, wind, solar, and biofuels, which will make important and growing contributions. It also includes hydrocarbon energy sources, such as oil, natural gas, and coal. Because of their relative availability, affordability, and versatility — and given the enormous scale of global energy demand — they will continue to be the predominant energy sources for the foreseeable future.

We recognize our responsibility to help meet this growing energy demand while working to reduce the impact on the environment. To that end, we are taking action — improving our own energy efficiency, helping consumers improve theirs, and seeking new technologies that could be the game-changers that tomorrow’s vast global energy system will require.

In all areas of corporate citizenship, we listen to others in order to understand different perspectives, to regularly assess our progress, and to know where we need to improve. While proud of our achievements, we are not complacent. Five contractor fatalities in 2008 was five too many, which is why we maintain a relentless focus on safety at our facilities. In 2008, our safety performance continued to lead the industry.

The goal of our 2008 Corporate Citizenship Report is to detail our performance and commitment in our most significant citizenship areas: corporate governance, safety and health, environmental performance, managing climate change risks, economic development, and human rights and security.

I hope you find this information helpful in understanding our commitment to corporate citizenship and our progress to date. We welcome any comments you may have.

Rex W. Tillerson
Chairman and CEO