Church Commissioners for England joined growing investor campaigns demanding changes at Exxon Mobil Corp. and on Dec. 10 backed calls for a board refresh and development of a strategy for the U.S. oil company's transition to cleaner fuels.
The Church Commissioners, who manage the Church of England's investment fund, said they were "pleased to lend their support" to proposals from new hedge fund Engine No. 1 designed to "re-energize Exxon Mobil."
Exxon Mobil did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment.
Engine No. 1, launched 10 days ago, sent a letter to Exxon Mobil this week outlining its plan to nominate four directors to the company's board and asking the company to cut more costs to preserve its dividend.
Investors have been unsuccessfully pressing Exxon Mobil on climate change for years now, and the Church of England, New York state's pension fund and Legal & General Investment Management backed a call this year to split the CEO and chairman roles at the company.
That proposal received 32.7% votes in May, down from 41% last year.
This year, however, the pressure on Exxon Mobil has risen exponentially as the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed fuel demand and sent oil prices to record lows.
On Dec. 9, Reuters reported hedge fund D.E. Shaw was also pressuring Exxon Mobil to make changes and sent the company a letter this week asking it to cut costs and improve performance.
Recommended Reading
Oil Rises 1% as Investors Digest US Election Fallout
2024-11-07 - Oil prices rose nearly 1% on Nov. 7 following the U.S. election results and as Hurricane Rafael rolls into the Gulf of Mexico.
US NatGas Prices Slide 2% as Mild Weather Keeps Storage Injections High
2024-11-07 - U.S. natural gas futures have fallen on forecasts for weather to remain mild through late November.
OPEC Outlook: US Shale Oil Volumes to Hit 16.7 MMbbl/d by 2030
2024-11-07 - The head of OPEC’s energy studies warned that failure to invest in oil production could lead to a global energy crisis as early as 2035.
Marcellus Waiting to Exhale But Held Back by Regional, Economic Factors
2024-11-06 - After years of exploitation as one of the country’s first unconventional shale plays, the Marcellus still has plenty of natural gas for producers, even if regional and economic factors have kept much of it bottled up.
CNOOC’s Long Lake Northwest Project Begins Crude Production
2024-11-06 - CNOOC’s Long Lake Northwest project will reach a peak production of 8,200 bbl/d of crude in 2025.