ExxonMobil Holdings CorporationXOM

Economic and market conditions · Inflation and deflation pressures

ExxonMobil's business results are also exposed to potential negative impacts due to changes in interest rates, inflation, currency exchange rates, changes in usage of the U.S. dollar in global trade, and other local or regional market conditions.

Social and demographic · Public perception and reputation

Our reputation is an important corporate asset. Factors that could have a negative impact on our reputation include an operating incident or significant cybersecurity disruption; changes in consumer views concerning our products; a perception by investors or others that the Corporation is making insufficient progress with respect to our ambition to play a leading role in the energy transition.

Natural and catastrophic events · Climate change and environmental impact

Driven by concern over the risks of climate change, a number of countries have adopted, or are considering the adoption of, regulatory frameworks to report on or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including emissions from the production and use of oil and gas and their products.

Geopolitical and trade · Trade policies tariffs and sanctions

Other factors that affect general economic conditions in the world or in a major region, such as changes in population growth rates, periods of civil unrest, government regulation or austerity programs, national or regional trade tariffs, trade sanctions or trade controls, international monetary and currency exchange rate fluctuations, disruptions in trade alliances or military alliances, or a broader breakdown in global trade.

Natural and catastrophic events · Pandemic and public health crises

Our future business results, including cash flows and financing needs, may also be affected by the occurrence, severity, pace and rate of recovery of future public health epidemics or pandemics; the responsive actions taken by governments and others; and the resulting effects on regional and global markets and economies.

Natural and catastrophic events · Natural disasters and extreme weather

Our operations may be disrupted by severe weather events, natural disasters, human error, and similar events. For example, hurricanes may damage our offshore production facilities or coastal refining and petrochemical plants in vulnerable areas.

Economic and market conditions · Economic recession and downturns

The demand for energy and petrochemicals is generally linked closely with broad-based economic activities and levels of prosperity. The occurrence of economic downturns, recessions or other periods of low or negative economic growth will typically have a direct adverse impact on our results.

Natural and catastrophic events · Terrorism and security threats

Successful operation of particular facilities or projects may be disrupted by civil unrest, acts of sabotage, piracy, or terrorism, cybersecurity attacks, the application of national security laws or policies that result in restricting our ability to do business in a particular jurisdiction, strikes or protests, and other local security concerns.

Geopolitical and trade · Political instability and government changes

Some countries in which we do business lack well-developed legal systems, lack political or governmental stability, have not yet adopted or may be unable to maintain clear regulatory frameworks, or may have evolving and unharmonized standards that vary or conflict across jurisdictions.

Project and contract management · Project execution and delivery risks

The long-term success of ExxonMobil's Upstream and Product Solutions businesses, as well as the future success of LCS and other emerging investments, depends on complex, long-term, capital-intensive projects. These projects in turn require a high degree of project management expertise to maximize efficiency.

Supply chain and procurement · Raw material availability and cost volatility

The oil, gas, and petrochemical businesses are fundamentally commodity businesses. This means ExxonMobil's operations and earnings may be significantly affected by changes in oil, gas, and petrochemical prices and by changes in margins on refined products.

Cybersecurity and data protection · Data breaches and cyber attacks

ExxonMobil is regularly subject to attempted cybersecurity disruptions from a variety of sources including state-sponsored actors. If the measures we are taking to protect against cybersecurity disruptions prove to be insufficient or if our proprietary data is otherwise not protected, ExxonMobil, as well as our customers, employees, or third parties, could be adversely affected.

Tax and financial reporting · Tax compliance and changes in tax law

Increases or changes in taxes, duties, or government royalty rates, including retroactive claims, punitive taxes on oil, gas and petrochemical operations, windfall profit taxes, or global minimum taxes; price controls; changes in environmental regulations or other laws that penalize us for past or current production.

Industry regulation · Regulatory compliance and changes

Changes in environmental regulations or other laws that penalize us for past or current production of legal and/or permitted products and operations, increase our cost of operation or compliance or reduce or delay available business opportunities, including changes in laws affecting offshore drilling operations, standards to complete decommissioning, water use, production of our products, emissions, hydraulic fracturing, or production or use of new or recycled plastics.

Legal and litigation · Litigation and legal proceedings

We also may be adversely affected by the outcome of litigation or arbitration, especially in countries such as the United States in which very large and unpredictable punitive damage awards may occur; by government enforcement proceedings alleging non-compliance with applicable laws or regulations; or by state and local government actors as well as private plaintiffs acting in parallel that attempt to use the legal system to promote public policy agendas.

Strategic execution · Joint venture and partnership risks

For projects in which we are not the operator, we depend on the management effectiveness of one or more co-venturers whom we do not control.

Strategic execution · Merger acquisition and divestiture risks

We may not be able to acquire or divest assets at a price or on the timeline we contemplate in our strategies. Additionally, we may retain certain liabilities following a divestment and could be held liable for past use or for different liabilities than anticipated, including reversion of decommissioning or other liabilities upon bankruptcy or other default of successors in title.