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energizing the American economy
October 30, 2008
Investments in future energy supplies remain as important as ever.
Volatile stock prices, tighter credit, and the slowdown in economic activity are causing deep concerns, and leading some Americans to question our nation’s economic direction. What can be done to restore our economy to full health?
Access to reliable and affordable supplies of energy is a part of the cure. Energy helps drive the U.S. economy by powering businesses, moving people and goods, and creating jobs. It is essential for growth. In today’s challenging times, energy companies play an important role in helping our economy move forward.
At ExxonMobil, we’re doing just that. Our business model is based on rigorous and realistic long-term planning, enabling us to navigate the ups and downs of the business cycle. Because of our disciplined investment and financial strength, we have helped fuel the American economy for over 125 years — during good times and bad.
From 1983 through 2007 — a period which saw oil prices dip to less than $10 per barrel at one point — we invested over $355 billion worldwide. That was more than we earned during that time. And from 2003 through 2007 alone, we invested nearly $89 billion, including nearly $25 billion in North America.
Despite recent economic developments, we expect to spend more than $125 billion over the next five years on major energy projects to meet the growing economic needs of Americans and people around the world.
From unlocking the natural gas potential in Colorado’s Piceance Basin, to producing oil safely and in an environmentally responsible way in the Gulf of Mexico, to developing the world’s largest liquefied natural gas project to help meet growing needs including in the United States, ExxonMobil is investing in America’s economic future.
At the same time, our tax payments to federal and state governments are huge. ExxonMobil’s total U.S. tax expenses from 2003 through 2007 were nearly $65 billion, exceeding our U.S.-based earnings during that period by almost $19 billion.
America’s need for energy has not stopped. The energy industry is committed to meet this need through sustained investments in new energy supplies. Government can help by increasing access to domestic resources and establishing consistent and impartial rules for all energy investments. Together, we can help secure America’s economic future.
Some claim that energy companies are letting leased acreage “lay idle.” Not so. Companies like ExxonMobil incur real financial costs and risks when we pay the federal government significant sums to acquire and maintain a lease for a limited term. Naturally, we have every incentive — especially when prices are high — to explore and produce on the lands we lease as quickly as possible.
If leased acreage is promising, ExxonMobil is actively producing or evaluating it. The problem is that industry does not have access to some of the most promising acreage, so we are attempting to find new supplies from the limited offerings of the last ten years.
But drilling is only part of the solution to the energy challenges Americans face. It must be combined with improved efficiency, robust development of other economic energy sources, and other measures. By pursuing an integrated set of solutions, Americans can achieve a prosperous, secure and responsible energy future.
