US Pres. Joe Biden slams ExxonMobil for not paying fair share of taxes
US Pres. Joe Biden slams ExxonMobil for not paying fair share of taxes
– Says company ‘made more money than God this year’
Kaieteur News – US President, Joe Biden on Friday slammed ExxonMobil, his country’s leading oil producer, for being reluctant to drill more oil fields so that it can benefit from skyrocketing prices for oil and gas as supply shrinks.
US President, Joe Biden
The American President outrightly stated that the posture of the company was reflective of sheer greed as it sits back and watches inflation rise in-country, much to the benefit of its shareholders’ pockets.
According to a CNBC report, inflation in May rose at levels not seen since the early 1980s. Asked by a reporter if his administration has plans to “go after” oil company profits, Biden did not say what course of action he would take. He did state however that, “Exxon made more money than God this year.”
Expounding on the inflationary pressures facing his people, Biden blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine which led to shortages in the market and record-high gasoline prices. He also pinned part of the blame for high fuel costs on Exxon and other oil producers for what he called a failure to increase supply to help reduce prices.
“One thing I want to say about the oil companies: They have 9,000 permits to drill. They’re not drilling,” he continued. “Why aren’t they drilling? Cause they make more money not producing more oil — the price goes up.”
The second “reason they’re not drilling is they’re buying back their own stock,” Biden said. “Buying back their own stock and making no new investments.”
Exxon, the top U.S. oil producer, announced in April that it intends to triple the size of its stock buyback programme and repurchase up to US$30 billion in shares by the end of next year.
According to CNBC, in the first three months of 2022, Exxon distributed US$5.8 billion to shareholders, including US$3.8 billion in dividends and US$2.1 billion in stock buybacks. Given these figures, Biden issued a specific directive to the petroleum producer: “Exxon: Start investing, start paying your taxes.”
Exxon has of course objected to several of the president’s accusations.
“We have been in regular contact with the administration, informing them of our planned investments to increase production and expand refining capacity in the United States,” Exxon Mobil spokesperson Casey Norton told CNBC.
Kaieteur News will provide a more detailed report on this story in its Sunday’s publication.
