So much for “crumbs.” Citing the “historic” Republican-passed, President Trump-signed $1.5 trillion tax cut, Exxon Mobil announced on Monday that it plans to invest an additional $35 billion in the U.S. over the next five years . Combined with a recently announced $15 billion investment, the oil giant is going to effectively infuse $50 billion into the American economy.
Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods made the announcement in a blog post on Monday (full text below).
“At ExxonMobil, we plan to invest more than $50 billion over the next five years to expand our business in the United States,” writes Woods. “These investments are underpinned by the unique strengths of our company and enhanced by the historic tax reform recently signed into law.”
Woods notes the Exxon is not alone in its plans to reinvest in America and American workers in response to the massive corporate tax cut, which Republicans slashed from 35% to 21%.
“In fact, as you have probably seen, several companies have announced plans to invest here at home, partly as a result of tax reform, which among other things reduced one of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world,” he continues. “These positive developments will mean more jobs and economic expansion across the United States in a myriad of industries. And it will complement the substantial capital spending in the United States that ExxonMobil has teed up in the coming years.”
Woods goes on to detail ways his company will invest those tens of billions in the U.S.:
For instance, we will be investing billions of dollars to increase oil production in the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico, expand existing operations, improve infrastructure and build new manufacturing sites. This will create thousands of jobs, strengthen the U.S. economy and enhance energy security.
This comes on top of our massive build-out of operations along the Gulf Coast where we are investing billions of dollars and creating tens of thousands of high paying jobs on a number of major chemical, refining and lubricant projects.
Woods underscores that both employees and shareholders alike will benefit by the company’s massive investments and stresses that those benefits “are made even better by tax reform.” All this positive economic growth, he writes, is possible in large part because of “sound tax and regulatory policies that create a pro-growth business climate here in the U.S.”
As the Americans for Tax Reform has chronicled, the list of companies reinvesting in their employees and the economy in response to the GOP tax reform bill continues to increase. Here’s ATR’s partial list.
Below is the full text of Woods’ announcement:
At ExxonMobil, we plan to invest more than $50 billion over the next five years to expand our business in the United States. These investments are underpinned by the unique strengths of our company and enhanced by the historic tax reform recently signed into law.
In fact, as you have probably seen, several companies have announced plans to invest here at home, partly as a result of tax reform, which among other things reduced one of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world.
These positive developments will mean more jobs and economic expansion across the United States in a myriad of industries.
And it will complement the substantial capital spending in the United States that ExxonMobil has teed up in the coming years.
For instance, we will be investing billions of dollars to increase oil production in the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico, expand existing operations, improve infrastructure and build new manufacturing sites. This will create thousands of jobs, strengthen the U.S. economy and enhance energy security.
This comes on top of our massive build-out of operations along the Gulf Coast where we are investing billions of dollars and creating tens of thousands of high paying jobs on a number of major chemical, refining and lubricant projects.
These are quality investments for our shareholders that are made even better by tax reform. That’s good news if you‘re among the millions of Americans who own ExxonMobil stock directly or have indirect ownership through the many public pension funds, mutual funds or exchange traded funds that are ExxonMobil owners.
These are all possible because of the resource base developed by our industry along with sound tax and regulatory policies that create a pro-growth business climate here in the U.S.
The recent changes to the U.S. corporate tax rate coupled with smarter regulation create an environment for future capital investments and will further enhance ExxonMobil’s competitiveness around the world. We’re actively evaluating the impact of the lower tax rate on the economics of several other projects currently in the planning stages to further expand our facilities along the Gulf Coast.
Good to see sound policy laying the groundwork for America’s future economic success.
Darren Woods is Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil.