Exxon CEO's Solution on Shares: Drill Big, Drill Better

Darren Woods is mounting a strong defense of his plan to rescue Exxon Mobil Corp. from its share-price slump with $200 billion of investment over seven years that’s at odds with the belt-tightening undertaken by rivals. Share buybacks will come only if there’s excess cash, the chief executive officer said, ahead of a speech on the company’s strategy at Exxon’s annual meeting on May 30. Since Woods became CEO in 2017, Exxon has fallen 9 percent, compared with an 18 percent gain for its biggest rival, Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The CEO said he sees “a little bit of a disconnect” between the market’s short-term expectations and Exxon’s long-term planning.