Exxon’s Humbling Fall From Oil Juggernaut to Mediocre Company

Exxon’s Humbling Fall From Oil Juggernaut to Mediocre Company

The industrial giant missed the shale boom, overspent on projects, and saw its debt rise to $50 billion as its stock plummeted.. Darren Woods , chief executive officer of ExxonMobil Corp. , was chipper as he bandied with industry analysts on Jan. 31 about his company's poor 2019 performance.. The coronavirus had to spread far beyond China, but Woods had prepared to say a few words about it if anyone asked.. Over the next several weeks, Covid-19 ravaged the oil industry by vaporizing global demand just as Russia and Saudi Arabia launched a price war.. Investors were stunned to see oil fall to an 18-year-low of $22.74 a barrel at the end of March.. The company's debt has risen from effectively zero to $50 billion, and its profit last year was a bit more than half what it was a decade ago.. The purchase also surprised some investors, who couldn't easily see how the company would make a return.. As the decade wore on, the magnitude of oil accessible in U.S. shale would make the country an energy superpower to rival OPEC.. For decades, politicians and consumers were paranoid about running short of oil and gas.. But