ExxonMobil facing another lawsuit over alleged inflation of US assets

Mar 12, 2021 News

ExxonMobil CEO, Darren Woods.

Kaieteur News – America’s largest oil explorer, ExxonMobil Corporation, is facing another lawsuit over claims that it allegedly inflated the value of its Permian Basin assets. Representing aggrieved shareholders of the multinational conglomerate is Klein Law Firm which is headquartered in New York.
According to a statement from the firm, the complaint filed against Exxon Mobil Corporation alleges that it made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: it had forced its employees to use unrealistic assumptions regarding the timelines for well drilling in the Permian Basin; that the said assumptions served to artificially inflate the value of the company’s well operations in the Permian Basin; and that the foregoing conduct, when revealed, subjected Exxon to a heightened risk of regulatory investigation and oversight.
The law firm noted that shareholders have until March 29, 2021 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status.
Apart from this, Kaieteur News would have reported on February 24, last, that ExxonMobil was facing a similar lawsuit from Block & Leviton LLP, a firm that represents investors and helps to maintain the integrity of US financial markets.
Back in mid-January last, Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announced that it had launched an investigation into potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of ExxonMobil Corporation.
The foregoing cases all stem from a publication by the Wall Street Journal on January 15, 2021, that the oil giant was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the inflated valuation of its Permian Basin Assets. The article reported that the U.S. Securities Commission probe is premised on a whistleblower complaint that during a 2019 internal assessment, workers were forced to use unrealistic assumptions about how quickly wells in the Permian Basin could be drilled to reach a higher valuation, and that at least one worker who complained about the assumptions was fired. On this news, Exxon’s stock price fell US$2.42 per share, or 4.81%, to close at $47.89 per share on January 15, 2021. Following the release of the WSJ report, ExxonMobil was quick to inform the media and its shareholders that the claims made by an alleged whistleblower are demonstrably false. It had said that actual and provable performance exceeded drilling plans for the Permian, and such performance has been accurately represented to the investment community while noting that the Wall Street Journal has been aware of these facts since September.
Further to this, ExxonMobil had said it has an extensive and rigorous planning and budgeting process that considers many sensitivities and ranges of outcomes. The oil giant said it takes into account thousands of inputs including hundreds of drilling curves over a seven-month period. The Stabroek Block operator said, “Learning curves were developed as a collaborative effort between the drilling team executing the work, who had the most expertise with current drilling performance, and the development team, who leveraged data from demonstrated learning curve performance in other unconventional projects. There were multiple learning curves considered and evaluated throughout the process.”
Taking this into account, Exxon had said it is obvious that the employees who are alleged to have made the ‘false’ claims lack the breadth and depth of experience to understand how and why drilling curves are routinely revised as technologies improve and understanding of the resource base expands. Exxon was keen to note as well that historically, the company’s unconventional drilling performance has increased in short timeframes as engineers and planners gather more data in basins across its portfolio.
In conclusion, Exxon had said that it stands by its statements to investors, and, if it were to be asked about this matter by authorities, it would provide information that shows the accuracy of its valuation of the Permian assets, and that actual drilling performance exceeded the plans.

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