We are being cleaned up, downsized, right sized, offshored mostly to India, polished, on a very tight CAPEX/OPEX budget, cleaning up the balance sheet, and no new major projects on the horizon. Not to turn this company around for a new, improved, we are a winning ExxonMobil. But to sell this leaned up Corporation lock, stock and barrel to Reliance Industries by YE2021.
Management does not care about its employees coming out the other side of this downsizing this is quite obvious. Why, because they will not be managing us on the other side of this downsizing that is why. So to keep costs down we had the worst and lowest cost severance package of all the majors, we PIPED and PILED employees and still doing it especially to the high cost senior folks, we offshored jobs big time, we changed the ranking system to allow for an angel to fall from grace in one year, we took away the 401k, we cut COLA, we cut EXPAT, we cut salary, we cut CL, etc. By YE the employee rooster will all be cleaned up and ready to go for Reliance.
Unlike every other major, Reliance will have zero FTC or European trade issues. In fact, they will be welcomed. Both the USA and Europe love India as both a trading partner and as an ally and friend against China. Unlike, ExxonMobil who has deals with China in Guyana and the broken Chinese LNG deal, India will not engage China as such. This buyout of XOM will strengthen our relationship with a strategic Asian partner.
Where have all the last 5 year divestment leads from the Upstream and Downstream been this last year? We have completed and announced a few divestments but not many, maybe $3B, way below the $20B Woods advertised on his famous Investor Day 3 years ago. And he did not even mention divestments at the recent annual report investors call. Wonder why? Usually divestments and investments dry up about one year before a merger/buyout is announced just like before the Exxon and Mobil merger. Getting back to those divestment employees, well they are off the grid, working out of the Dallas office for the last year, reporting only to the Management Committee, while the rest of us were working from home.
So Woods brought in the consultant's cause he and his Minions had no idea how to run the company. They cut CAPEX and OPEX, cut the work force, offshored the future work force with most engineering going to India, flattened production, have no interest in motivating any of us whatsoever beyond a couple of stupid slogans, got the stock price to $60 where it will go no further until Reliance makes their offer at $70 to $75 /share to which it will be in the company's best interest to sell.
God Bless You All.