The History of Exxon Mobil Corporation from the early 1970s through the early 21st Century

This article aims to clarify the business activities of Exxon Mobil Corporation over a period of more than thirty years since the early 1970s. The main topics consist of upstream businesses, downstream businesses, diversification, organizational structures, and the Exxon Mobil Merger. Another purpose of this article is to review Exxon: Transforming, 1973-2005 by Joseph A. Pratt with William E. Hale, which was published in 2013 and is the fifth volume of the history of the Company. The main conclusions are the following： （1） The upstream business of the Company has already been discussed in my past articles, so this paper almost entirely foregoes a full description of this side of the company’s business. Instead, it chiefly focuses on a critical review of the newly published history. The latter seems, in my view, to have failed to treat important themes, such as Exxon’ s oil production in Alaska, the North Sea, and other areas. （2） Downsizing has been the long-term trend in the downstream business of the Company from the middle of the 1970s until now. Since the early 1990s, in particular, the Company executed cost cutting and increased efficiency. For example, the entire tanker fleet has been disposed of due to its low profitability. （3） The Company rushed to move into various industries, such as office equipment, minerals, nuclear fuel, coal, solar power, synthetic fuels, and others, after the first oil crisis in 1973, but almost all these new businesses had left the Company by the early 21st century. Their profits had been very disappointing. （4） The Company initiated organizational innovations after the oil bust of 1986. The structure composed of regional subsidiaries was transformed into a globally functioning organization after the Exxon Mobil Merger. （5） Exxon acquired Mobil near the end of 1999. The portfolio received from Mobil included some assets of astonishing value. The interest in the North gas field in Qatar was the best of these, and it has brought Exxon Mobil into the large liquefied natural gas （LNG） business. The Merger has been successful and has strengthened the position of the Company in the world’s petroleum industry.Ⅰ はじめにⅡ 原油生産事業の再構築と新展開Ⅲ 下流部門における費用の削減と効率化―精製事業を中心にⅣ 事業の多角化―急進展と処分・撤退Ⅴ グローバル職能別組織への移行Ⅵ エクソンモービル社の成立とその後の活動Ⅶ おわり