The "Exxpose Exxon" campaign includes twelve of the nation's
largest environmental public interest groups, representing a
combined membership of 6.4 million.

Citing the record profits raked in by ExxonMobil and other oil
companies in recent years, the campaigners charge that the
energy bill will allocate huge and unnecessary tax breaks and
subsidies to the oil industry. ExxonMobil has already raked in a
record-breaking $15 billion in profits in just the first half
of 2005, recording $7.85 billion in the second quarter alone.
Last year the company brought in a record $24 billion in
profits. [2] But ExxonMobil isn't the only oil company to enjoy
substantial profits this year. Between April and June of 2005,
BP recorded profits of $5 billion, and ConocoPhillips earned
$3.1 billion. [3]

"Does this sound like an industry that needs government
subsidies?" asks Anna Aurilio, Legislative Director of U.S.
PIRG. [4]

ExxonMobil and other oil giants will receive benefits under
energy bill beyond direct federal financial help. The bill also
loosens environmental protections and limits states' rights on
siting and constructing liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities
and pipelines, potentially giving ExxonMobil more sway over
these decisions.

LNG facilities receive imported chilled natural gas from large
tankers. To the alarm of local communities, studies show that a
terrorist attack on an LNG tanker could severely burn people
more than three-quarters of a mile away. With plans to deliver
15.6 million tons a year of LNG, ExxonMobil is working to build
onshore LNG receiving terminals throughout Texas.

"The new energy law will make it easier for ExxonMobil to win
approval for these and future LNG facilities even if the states
or local communities object," says Aurilio. [5]

According to the new "Exxpose Exxon" report, the energy bill
will also impose limits on states' power to influence decisions
about offshore oil drilling projects, another change that could
help ExxonMobil. Environmentalists worry that this will allow
oil companies to gain easier access to coastal waters. Aera
Energy, a joint venture of ExxonMobil and Shell, owns more than
half of the 36 undeveloped leases along the California coast and
is one of the largest drillers in the Gulf of Mexico. [6]

While the new energy law uses the American taxpayers' dollar to
subsidize the oil industry, oil companies will be able to avoid
paying their fair share of taxes and royalties, says the U.S.
PIRG report. The law offers $1.7 billion in tax breaks and
millions in "royalty relief" programs to make oil and gas
development cheaper and more profitable. [7]

The law also offers up to $1.5 billion in new subsidies to the
oil industry for ultra-deepwater oil drilling and exploration.
This offer could benefit ExxonMobil in particular, because it is
an industry leader in deepwater development. ExxonMobil
estimates that deepwater oil and gas will account for more than
20 percent of its production by 2010. [8]

U.S. PIRG's Aurilio asserts that ExxonMobil should use the vast
benefits it will enjoy from the energy bill to "craft a new
energy policy strategy that goes beyond drilling to the last
drop at any cost." [9]

The Exxpose Exxon campaign urges the American public to refuse
to buy the company's gas, products, or stocks, and encourages
ExxonMobil stockowners to use their leverage to change the
company's environmental policies.

###

SOURCES:
[1] "Big Oil Hits Pay Dirt in Energy Bill," U.S. PIRG, Aug. 3,
2005.
[2] Exxpose Exxon press release, Jul. 28, 2005.
[3] "Big Money to Big Oil: How ExxonMobil and the Oil Industry
Benefit from the 2005 Energy Bill," U.S. PIRG Education Fund,
Aug. 2005.
[4] "Big Oil Hits Pay Dirt in Energy Bill," op. cit.
[5] Ibid.
[6] "Big Money to Big Oil," op. cit.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] "Big Oil Hits Pay Dirt in Energy Bill," op. cit.