Introduction

Exxon Mobil is an American company resulting of a merger from 1999 between Mobil Oil & Exxon Corporation. Exxon Mobil’s field of activity focuses on oil’s extraction, refining and distribution where it is one of the leaders. Exxon Mobil is also one of the largest petrochemicals producers in the world.

It has 45 refineries in twenty-five countries with a distilling capacity of 6.3 million barrels of oil per day. It also has 42,000 service stations in more than 100 countries under the brand names Exxon, Esso and Mobil.

The corporation has regained the No. 1 rank, in the fortune magazine, of the largest U.S. companies, dethroning Wal-Mart, the retail giant, with a turnover of 453 billion dollars.

We are going to perform an Ethical Review of Exxon Mobil. As a first step, it is important to say that when it comes to ethics and oil industry everything already seems lost in advance. Since long the image of this industry is marred by various environmental disasters (oil spill on the coasts etc…) and many business problems that suggest that oil companies have blood on their hands.

Following these disturbing facts it now seems essential for Oil businesses to regain a public image for stakeholders & all others. Indeed, a lot of these events have significantly harmed the Oil Industry.

We will therefore study Exxon Mobile’s ethics based on its history, its ethics policy, its corporate board & key executives and finally through its ethical practice.

1) Corporate history

Exxon Mobil is en American major actor of the Oil Industry. It is born in 1999 from the merger of two giants: Exxon Corporation & Mobil Oil. The two companies at the origin of the merger are both descendants of one of the most historically famous Oil company Standard Oil founded by John D. Rockefeller. Indeed, following mediatized events of the company’s antitrust violation in 1911 Standard Oil was split into 34 companies as a judgment of a United State Supreme Court. Standard Oil used to control more than 50% of the worldwide oil production & more than 85% of the US production & distribution.

From the 34 successors companies resulting from the split some have grown & now make part of worldwide most prestigious company including Chevron & Amoco. Standard Oil of New Jersey, another successor of Standard Oil, which will become later Esso and then Exxon and Standard Oil of New York, will become Mobil.

A major event has affected the image of Exxon before the merger. Indeed 38 500 tons of crude oil spill in the Prince William Sound in Alaska in 1989. It was the largest oil spill to date to the United States. This disaster has killed large numbers of aquatic animals and has cost the U.S. government $38 000 000 for cleaning it up.

It’s in 1998 that Mobil & Exxon signed the agreement for the merger of the two companies. The agreement had a value of $73 000 000 000 to found Exxon Mobil Corporation, at that time the world largest company. This merger was historic as it was first one of the hugest merger the world had known but also because it involved the two most powerful descendants of the Standard Oil Company.

The year 2005 represents a milestone for Exxon Mobil which became the number one company in the world in market capitalization thus surpassing the legendary General Electric. Moreover, that year they established a record in annual income with $36 000 000 000 or 42% more than the previous year.

In 2010, Exxon Mobil acquires XTO energy. The acquisition is evaluated at $41 000 000 000. XTO energy was a 25 years old firm specialized in natural gas. This acquisition will increase Exxon’s position in the development of unconventional resources which will create sustainable and long-term value for its shareholders. Indeed, this acquisition has made Exxon Mobil the biggest natural gas producer in the United States.

Then couple months later in 2010, Exxon Mobil acquires Ellora energy, oil & Gas Company, to expand and boost its market shares in Texas and Louisiana. David Rosenthal, vice president of investors’ relation in Exxon Mobil affirmed that it increased the production and the pipeline capacity and increased its position by 46,000 acres. Exxon Mobil paid $695 000 000 for this acquisition.

In order to pursue its development through shale-gas Exxon Mobil acquired in 2011 two sister company located in Pennsylvania. Philip resources & TWP Inc were bought for $1 700 000 000 and gave access to hundreds of thousands acres in the Pittsburgh area.

Finally, in October 2012, Exxon Mobil, to again increase its presence all over the world and especially in the gas business, has come into an agreement with Celtic Exploration to acquire the company. The deal is going to take place between the Canadian cell of Exxon and this firm for C$2 640 000 000. Celtic Exploration produces 72 million cubic feet of gas per day and 4,000 barrels per day of oil and natural gas liquids. 2) Ethical Policies

a) Exxon Mobil’s need for ethical practices

Exxon Mobil seems to have a strong policy for good and ethical practices. As mentioned in many articles from their own website “High standards of business conduct are a key competitive strength — critical to maintaining our global license to operate”. Indeed as it seems from my research that couple exposures have lead Exxon Mobil to enforce a strong business conducts.
First, the Exxon Valdez catastrophe with the spill 40 000 tons of crude oil involving the captain of the boat who had alcohol before boarding has significantly harms the image of the company and lead to the loss of a trial that ended in 2008 condemning Exxon Mobil to pay $ 500 million in damages. The captain was also accused of a lack of supervision of his crew showing the lack a good practice Exxon Mobil had established.
Then, at the end of the 90’s their involvement and their way of doing business in certain countries where oppression was rampant (especially Malaysia, Chile, Indonesia, Colombia, Brazil) has not only shocked the public opinion but also hurts their returned to the long-term.
Besides the fact that the sector of Exxon Mobil is fluently categorize as unethical, I personally think that it is those two points that lead Exxon Mobil to establish the strong business conducts and ethics codes that we are going to study.

b) Good practices at Exxon Mobil
1- General aspects
Exxon Mobil establishes its good practices through a document name Standards of Business Conducts available online created in 2006 and which doesn’t seem to have changed. Its document has been not only overseen but also adopted by the board of directors. It is supposed to rule the behavior of the whole organization from its top to the bottom. It is said that no one, not even the most senior executives, can neither make an exception nor adapt to this policy and that any breach of the good practice can lead to a termination. Indeed, the acceptance of this Code of Conduct is a condition of hiring at Exxon Mobil.
The first thing that catches the attention while reading the Business Conducts is the assumed character of the priority of the group: Paying consistently shareholders. But this assumed fact can be criticized & judged unethical. For example, in order to boost its share price, Exxon Mobil often buys back its own stock. It is criticized because a lot of people think that the money used to satisfy investor could be used instead for developing clean energy, for raising employee’s incomes etc…
Then second thing that the document emphasizes on is the respect of the different governing laws where the country is present. This point seems obvious but yet is underline on many occasions as well as the total compliance with human rights all over the world.
An important point raised in the document stipulate that the employees should not be interested only by the results but also by the manner it have been obtained. Thus, for the manner to be clear, Exxon Mobil promotes a complete transparency at all the company’s level.
The document also emphasizes on the importance of avoiding conflict of interests and protecting the assets of the company. They also dedicated pages for anti-corruption or to reaffirm the importance of maintaining politics for the private sphere.
A long passage is dedicated for promoting equal employment opportunity, health & safety at work which seems to be a crucial aspect especially after different oil spilling cases and which seems to work if we believe the downward curves of the corporate citizenship report of 2011. But in 2012, Shareholders voted against LGBT agreement & refused to add in the harassment section a close for banning discrimination on sexual orientation. 80% said no claiming the guide if not specific match with all discrimination which has been spoken a lot within the population on the ethicality of the group.
The guide also talks about the respect of the environment. This point is obviously not to neglect especially given its industry whether in oil or shale gas. The document stipulates that the company not only comply with the law touching the environmental aspects but also encourages all the employees & executives to do their best in improving the quality of work and cleanness for the environment. Yet, Exxon Mobil seems to have always denied the impact of humanity on global warming. Furthermore, it even appears that Exxon Mobil was until at least 2008 in a very close relationship with the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF), an organization that opposes to the government regulations with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But worst, the ACCF would even have received more than $ 1.6 million dollars from Exxon Mobil to spread doubt about the human origins of global warming. Moreover, ExxonMobil was also a major contributor to a $13 million U.S. advertising campaign against the Kyoto agreement stating; ‘It's not global and it won't work. ’However, the situation seems to have changed as far as can see on the 2011 citizenship report or with the information on the official website, Exxon Mobil today seem to do everything to reduce its environmental impact.
2- On the workplace
The Standard of Business Conducts also emphasize on employee behavior on the workplace with a huge explanation on the prohibition of alcohol and drug but also with harassment in the work place. Also, there is an interesting point, explaining that employee could receive gifts in a commercial way and that it is not wrong until they still choose wisely. This seems to show that Exxon Mobile wants to clearly explain employees what behavior should be adopted, what is tolerated and what is not.

c) Enforcing ethical behavior

As the ethical behavior seems important to Exxon Mobil the way to assess it seems also pretty strong and passes through several stages:
• First, the employees are expected to review the standards each year at least through self-assessments.
• The company also insures with 200 trained employees an ethic audit covering 1/3 of the company’s operations, employees, units & records across every function of the corporations.
• Training is insured at least 1 out of 4 years to review each practice. This training includes a review of the Business Standards.
• The employees are also encouraged to communicate any doubt of an ethical aspect to their managers for advice. But they are also encouraged to report violations of the standards. Indeed, a whole confidential cell accessible 24/7 is available for employees wanting to report an unethical behavior.

d) Charitable contributions

Since 2000, Exxon Mobil and the so called foundation has given more than $111 000 000 along different associations & actions to prevent Malaria all across Africa. In 2010, 5 millions of Cameroonians received learning about bed-net use through radio programs & local celebrities. Exxon Mobil also promote in Africa Science & Math with Astronaut Bernard Harris who traveled to Africa to encourage thousands of children. In 2011, they also started a partnership with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women to identify mobile phone applications to advance women’s economic opportunities.

For the total in 2011, Exxon Mobil Corporation and its Foundation provided a combined $234 million in cash, goods, and services worldwide. 60% of this money had been granted for American communities and 40% for worldwide communities.

Finally, the corporate also encourage its employee’s volunteerism. In 2011, 23,000 persons linked with the company donated money and 728 900 volunteer hours has been counted including to help Japan to recover from its nuclear & earthquake disaster.
3) Corporate board & key executives

Exxon Mobil Board of directors since 2008
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Rex W. Tillerson Rex W. Tillerson Rex W. Tillerson Rex W. Tillerson Rex W. Tillerson
Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. Edward E. Whitacre, Jr.
Steven S Reinemund Steven S Reinemund Steven S Reinemund Steven S Reinemund Steven S Reinemund
Samuel J. Palmisano Samuel J. Palmisano Samuel J. Palmisano Samuel J. Palmisano Samuel J. Palmisano
William W. George William W. George William W. George William W. George William W. George
James R. Houghton Kenneth C. Frazier Kenneth C. Frazier Kenneth C. Frazier Kenneth C. Frazier
Marilyn Carlson Nelson Marilyn Carlson Nelson Marilyn Carlson Nelson Marilyn Carlson Nelson Henrietta H. Fore
Reatha Clark King Reatha Clark King Jay S. Fishman Jay S. Fishman Jay S. Fishman
Larry R. Faulkner Larry R. Faulkner Larry R. Faulkner Larry R. Faulkner Larry R. Faulkner
Michael J. Boskin Michael J. Boskin Michael J. Boskin Michael J. Boskin Michael J. Boskin
Walter V. Shipley Peter Brabeck-Letmathe Peter Brabeck-Letmathe Peter Brabeck-Letmathe

When searching information about the Exxon Mobil board of directors the first thing that I noticed in many articles is first a broad regularity in its members. Indeed, many board members stayed for a long time. The second thing which seems interesting is that an average of 90% of members doesn’t work in the company while serving the board. That seems to limit the conflict of interests. Furthermore, the C.E.O Rex W. Tillerson doesn’t seem to be a board member of other company which also limits the conflict of interest. Indeed, often the C.E.O is board member of its own board member’s company bringing the different person to grant favors.
People that left the board since 2008:
• James R Houghton – Born in 1936 he has left its last position of Corning C.E.O in 2005 and seems to have retired since he left Exxon Mobil Board of directors.
• Marilyn Carlson Nelson – She is 73 and owns with her sister the Carlson Inc. group. She also seems to have retired.
• Reatha Clark King – Director during 12 years at Exxon Mobil, Reatha was a chemist & a researcher in the NASA Space Program & became in 1988 the executive director of the General Mills Foundation. She left Exxon’s board of directors at the age of 72 & thus I suppose she retired. She seems to have had close relations with Bill Clinton which could explain a strong position on Exxon’s boards.
• Walter V. Shipley – He was C.E.O of the Chase Manhattan Bank & board member of many eminent companies. He stopped all these activities during the early 2000’s and Exxon seems to have been his last.

People that joined the board since 2008:
• Peter Brabeck Lemathe – In 2010 Peter Brabeck has been elected to be a board member of Exxon Mobil. Despite, the apparent interest of the company for ethics in its development, the election of the former chairman and C.E.O of Nestlé seems wrong. Indeed, the Austrian businessman of 68 years old has been involved with Lilianne Bettencourt (One of the principal chairman of Loreal) in child labor, baby contaminated food & many other things. He even received the sad berlin price of the black planet award in 2007, just before its election.
• Jay S. Fishman – C.E.O of the travelers company has joined the board in 2010.
• Henrietta H Fore – She is involved in politics including with Georges W. Bush and made part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Elected in 2012 to be part of Exxon’s board of directors, its position in governmental units might be judged as unethical considering the involvement of Exxon in many countries including unstable ones.
• Keneth C. Frazier – President of Merck & co – Elected by shareholders he seems to be an ethic officer as its many various awards seems to prove: the 2001 Penn State Alumni Fellow Award, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s 2004 Excellence in Corporate Practice Award, and the Equal Justice Initiative’s 2009 Equal Justice Champion Award.

Exxon Mobil Key Executives (Officers) since 2008
Position 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
C . E . O Rex W. Tillerson Rex W. Tillerson Rex W. Tillerson Rex W. Tillerson Rex W. Tillerson
S . V . P M. W. Albers M. W. Albers M. W. Albers M. W. Albers M. W. Albers
S . V . P M. J. Dolan M. J. Dolan M. J. Dolan M. J. Dolan M. J. Dolan
S .V . P This position didn’t exist This position didn’t exist This position didn’t exist This position didn’t exist D. D. Humphreys
S . V . P This position didn’t exist This position didn’t exist This position didn’t exist This position didn’t exist A. P. Swiger
S . V . P & treasurer D. D. Humphreys D. D. Humphreys D. D. Humphreys R. N. Schleckser R. N. Schleckser
V . P - HR L. J. Cavanaugh L. J. Cavanaugh L. J. Cavanaugh L. J. Cavanaugh M. A. Farrant
V . P A.T Cejka A.T Cejka S. M. Greenlee S. M. Greenlee S. M. Greenlee
Public & Government Affair K. P. Cohen K. P. Cohen K. P. Cohen K. P. Cohen K. P. Cohen
V . P H. R. Cramer H. R. Cramer H. R. Cramer D. D. Humphreys Became SVP
V . P S. J. Glass S. J. Glass S. J. Glass S. J. Glass D. W. Woods
V . P A. J. Kelly A. J. Kelly A. J. Kelly A. J. Kelly A. J. Kelly
V . P R. M. Kruger R. M. Kruger R. M. Kruger R. M. Kruger R. M. Kruger
V. P - General tax S. R. Lasala S. R. Lasala J. M. Spellings J. M. Spellings J. M. Spellings
G . M - Corporate planning R. A. Luxbacher W. M. Colton W. M. Colton W. M. Colton W. M. Colton
V . P - General Counsel C. W. Matthews C. W. Matthews S. J. Balagia S. J. Balagia S. J. Balagia
V . P - Controller P. T. Mulva P. T. Mulva P. T. Mulva P. T. Mulva P. T. Mulva
V . P - Washington R. D. Nelson T. M. Fariello T. M. Fariello T. M. Fariello T. M. Fariello
V . P S. D. Pryor S. D. Pryor S. D. Pryor S. D. Pryor S. D. Pryor
Investors relation D. S. Rosenthal D. S. Rosenthal D. S. Rosenthal D. S. Rosenthal D. S. Rosenthal
Safety Health Environment S. K. Stuewer O. K. Owen O. K. Owen J. J. Woodbury (cumulate with Environmental Policy) J. J. Woodbury (cumulate with Environmental Policy)
V . P A. P. Swiger A. P. Swiger A. P. Swiger A. P. Swiger Became SVP
V . P & President Upstream Ventures This position didn’t exist R. S. Franklin R. S. Franklin R. S. Franklin R. S. Franklin
Environmental Policy & planning This position didn’t exist S. K. Stuewer S. K. Stuewer J. J. Woodbury (cumulate with Safety & Health) J. J. Woodbury (cumulate with Safety & Health)
V . P This position didn’t exist T. R. Walters T. R. Walters T. R. Walters T. R. Walters

As for the board of directors, the chosen main executives seem to be pretty stable. A. T. Cejka retired after more than 34 years of services in Exxon and has been replaced by S. M. Greenlee who worked in the company for a long time and it appears to be a fair promotion. H. R. Cramer, R. D. Nelson and S. J. Glass also retired after at least more than 30 years of working at Exxon Mobil.
S. R. Lasala was hired in 2007 and already fired in 2009. The same year no tax were recorded for Exxon Mobil letting people think they didn’t pay tax in the US even if it was not accurate but just a problem of recording. Therefore, I assume that Lasala as the general tax vice president might have paid this mistake.
R. A. Luxbacher changed of position to become a council member of ExxonMobil Women’s Economic Opportunity Initiative and ExxonMobil Math and Science Initiative.
There is no information on the departure of S. K. Stuewer and O. K. Owen both in positions related to health & environment. We can think that the numerous complaints on Exxon acts on environment could have make them fired as well as the different lawsuit coming from Exxon Workers for contamination on the workplace.
The major parts of the hired or promoted persons since 2008 were already in the group since a long time. In my opinion, I can’t see anything wrong with R. N. Schleckser, D. W. Woods, J. M. Spellings, W. M. Colton, J. J. Woodbury, R. S. Franklin or T. R. Walters as they seem to be proficient according to their past.
S. J. Balagia was hired in the general counsel. He’s the only one that was not priory working for Exxon before. He graduated in Austin, Texas in the same university of the C.E.O Rex W. Tillerson which can make us think he had relation that led him to be hired. But at the meantime, he seems to be a good professional as he has been listed as the best lawyers in America (1994, 1998) and has been named as the Texas Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly magazine (2005-2007 editions).

T. M. Fariello was hired in 2001 by Exxon Mobil after making part of the USA Department of Energy (DOE) in Texas. She also anteriorly worked for Occidental Petroleum Corporation. I assume that she has been hired for her background.

4) Ethical Pratices

Year Objet Status Verdict Damages
2006 Anti-competitive price fixing to bring down its franchisees Terminated Guilty -
2007 Discrimination on age Terminated Guilty Appropriate Wages back
2007 Contamination of a worker in Minesota Terminated Not guilty -
2008 Kivalina sues Exxon for being at the origin of a flood Terminated Not guilty -
2008 Torture & violation of human rights in indonesia (from 2003) Still pending - -
2008 Harassment on Workplace Terminated Not guilty -
2008 Exxon Valdez case ending Terminated Guilty $500 million
2009 2006 gas spilled over Maryland Terminated Guilty $495 million
2009 Nigerian worker against M. Mike Fry of Exxon for Harassment Still pending - -
2009 NewYork Groundwater Contamination Terminated Guilty $104.7 million
2009 Wrong prices practice in New Jersey
2010 Radiation Exposure of 16 worker in Louisiana Terminated Guilty $1.2 million
2010 Worker dead of cancer supposely because of Benzene Still pending - -
2010 Death by exposure to asbestos Still pending - -
2011 Exposure to mesothelioma Terminated Guilty $25 million
2011 H²S Gas contamination Still pending - -
2012 Ryanair sues Exxon for overcharging fuel Still pending - -
2012 Negligence case after employee being killed by a criminal in a gas station Still pending - -
2012 Discrimination on age Still pending - -
2012 Oil Spilling in YellowStone Terminated Agreement Not known
2012 Second lawsuit about Oil spilling in YellowStone Still pending - - Despite my very large & numerous research on Exxon Mobil’s criminal cases over the last 5 years I couldn’t find so many cases.
The first striking thing is the global impact of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Indeed, the crash of the boat, back to 1989, still is at the origin of numerous articles in the past 20 years. The case has been opened and reopened by many persons. The final verdict had yet been given in 2008: After huge damages required at first, Exxon is going to pay $500 million. But the total bill initiated by this dramatic incident has most certainly cost a much heavier amount of money. In fact, counting all the costs of the accident, the repair bill was over $ 3.5 billion. It was the largest tanker incident of its kind until 2010 with the Deepwater Horizon of the other oil giant, BP.
The second striking case which is much discussed is the case of torture in Indonesia. It has given a bad image to Exxon internationally for several reasons. First, the reason of the case is very violent because it implies that Exxon’s employees participated in the death of several Indonesian who were "beaten, burned, shocked with cattle prods, kicked, and subjected to other forms of brutality and cruelty" amounting to torture in Indonesia's Aceh province between 1999 and 2001, a period of civil unrest. It is a case of high violation of human rights. Then, when the family of the tortured people filed a lawsuit the international court decided that it couldn’t be judged internationally & after the US court also decided the case couldn’t be judged in the US. In 2011, an appeal court decided that the case could be judged but the trial didn’t happen yet. Therefore, this case really gave the impression of impunity for big corporations.
My global point of view when reviewing criminal cases of Exxon is that despite the apparent stronger need for Ethical Practice, it is very hard for a company this big to be irreproachable. There are still cases of harassment or discrimination but we can think there will probably always be even if their business conducts is pretty clear about it.
I also have the impression that the cases of contamination are growing. This might be explained by many reasons: now that science has developed we can better know the origin of the disease, also we can think that people are more willing to file a lawsuit for this type of crime knowing that they can win. We can also suppose that the new way of extracting gas (shale gas in particular) might lead to worst chance of contamination. As I already mentioned in the part 3, the executives in charge of health, safety & environment have left the company within the last 5 years. Is it their fault or negligence? Did they need someone to be guilty of this responsibility?
What I also find interesting in my research is that I couldn’t find any personal lawsuit against any of the key executives or board members. I personally think that such a reputation for a high responsibility job or position is nearly suicidal for a company such as Exxon Mobil.

Conclusion

Determining if a company is whether ethical or not is difficult. I think that a huge company such as Exxon Mobil will always suffer from employee’s unethical behavior despite the needed conducts and even if it is present on one’s contract.

However, through key executives, board members, stakeholders and major events you can have a certain opinion. In the case of Exxon Mobil, as previously said, the industry they are in must provoke ethical dilemmas.

Exxon Mobil is present on so many levels of many websites & association denouncing unethical behaviors that it seems clear that the company isn’t the most ethical one. Indeed, they have to deal with dangerous raw materials & the way to extract them is risky. In addition, they have to be present in countries with instable political system or even really risky one.

To sum up what I have found during my research Exxon Mobil tried to implement a strong policy on business conducts which is supposed to govern the behavior of the highest level of the organization as well as the smaller level. My opinion is that they really made en effort on ethics & especially on environment as it becomes each year a biggest concerns for humanity. Yet, there are still a lot of disturbing behaviors in the actions of Exxon Mobil. Not long ago when shareholders refuse the implementation of a close on non-discrimination according to sexuality. Also, even if the board members & key executives don’t have any criminal records (as far as I know) the election as a board member of Peter Brabeck Lemathe that was criticized a lot for unethical conduct of business seems wrong. Some departure especially in Health, Safety & Environment can also let us think of unethical behavior but nothing here can be proved. Moreover, the participation of many executives & the financing of many researchers to try to prove global warming had nothing to do with the human activity also leave a real bad impression on the ethnicity of the group. Exxon Mobil also finance a lot democrats & republicans and as they are one of the biggest lobbying company with more than $12 million used for lobbying, it really appears that the group could soak in the corruption affairs.

Furthermore, historical events don’t vanish so quickly & some will probably stay for long as the case of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, the human rights violation in Indonesia or the supposedly violation of boycott in Sudan.

But when it comes to compare Exxon Mobil with other groups in the same industry it rapidly appear that Exxon Mobil probably isn’t the most unethical one. British Petroleum for example is often considered as one of the most unethical company in the world. They received in 2010 the Black Planet Award for their unethical behavior.
Chevron also one of the leaders in the Oil Industry seems to have one of the most unethical behaviors. During my research, I’ve found many ranking of the most unethical groups and most of the time Chevron is in the TOP5 at least for its tax evasion, environmental infractions as oil spill in equator, human rights violation, accusation of helping militias in Nigeria or when 2 protestors has been shot to death by Nigerian soldiers.

Occidental Petroleum Organization also has its quota of bad actions and is also included in the TOP10 of the least ethical companies through their involvement in territory disputes with local building or road through the national park with one goal of optimizing their chain.

Finally, the French oil group TOTAL with implications of slave labor in Myanmar, several human right violations or financing military of the juntas with the pipelines profit.

To conclude I would say that Exxon Mobil most certainly isn’t the most unethical oil company but yet has a lot of involvement in shady or sometimes dangerous deals. It seems impossible for an oil giant to be crystal clear as its industry requires implication in risky materials & process as well as it requires the presence on risky countries where human rights isn’t enough protected. Moreover, as a huge company the close relation with politicians & government agencies leaves a bad impression in the public eye because it is easy to have doubts about the motives of these companies which often appears to be money.