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ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods received $44.1mn in pay for 2024, a 19.3 per cent increase over the year before.
The package included salary, stock options and bonuses for the boss of Exxon, the US’s largest oil producer. The company’s shares rose about 8 per cent last year, compared with a 23 per cent rise in the broader S&P 500 index.
Woods’s pay compares with the $32.7mn paid to Mike Wirth, boss of rival US supermajor Chevron, which was a 19.5 per cent increase from the previous year.
The compensation for both US oil chiefs far exceeded that of their transatlantic counterparts. Shell CEO Wael Sawan made £8.6mn ($11mn), while BP’s Murray Auchincloss collected £5.4mn. Sawan’s pay increased 11.5 per cent, while Auchincloss’s declined 30 per cent amid falling profits.
The discrepancy in pay between US oil majors and their transatlantic peers highlights the growing divide between the groups as US oil and gas companies enjoy higher market capitalisation and benefit from a more favourable investor environment for fossil fuels. Exxon’s market value is about $452.7bn, compared to $246.5bn for Chevron, $187.2bn for Shell and $73.2bn for BP.
US President Donald Trump’s recent announcement to enact tariffs on Washington’s trading partners has roiled global oil markets, creating a problem for oil majors as they now must contend with a drop in oil prices that could cut into profits and undermine the economics of oil production in certain regions.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, has fallen more than 14 per cent over the past five days as fears mount over the possibility of a global recession.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs cut their oil price forecast on Sunday, predicting a “stagnating” US economy and a higher risk of recession. They expect Brent crude to trade at an average $58 a barrel in 2026.
