Exxon Mobile Sabotage

Exxon Mobile may be fined more than $1 billion for sabotaging oil wells of fields it no longer wanted in order to prevent other oil companies from reusing them. Jerry Patterson, the commissioner of the land office that oversees oil leases that help fund Texas schools, alleges that, in the 1990s, Exxon Mobil plugged abandoned wells with trash, sludge, explosives and cement plugs. The Railroad Commission stipulates that Exxon Mobil face fines of $10,000/day for each well.

How will this monetarily affect Exxon?

"Exxon Mobil had $25 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter, more than The Hague-based Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc of London combined, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. For Exxon Mobil, $1 billion is equivalent to 2.2 percent of last year’s net income."

What lessons are we hoping they learn when the fine assessed is equivalent to only 2.2% of a single year's income? Even though Exxons' 2008 profits were the most for any corporation in the history of the world, the fine should still be much higher.

One thing to remember about Exxon and all of their recent profits: they still owe about $450 million in accrued interest to plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez oil spill case.

Their greed knows no bounds.