By Nicholas Earl
US oil bosses generally collected huge paychecks last year on the back of high energy prices and record profits, with Exxon Mobil Corp’s chief executive winning a 52 per cent increase.
The largest U.S. oil company on Thursday disclosed chief executive Darren Woods was paid $35.9m last year.
Oil company workers did not see the same level of increases with median annual compensation for workers declining at several big energy companies.
The median pay for an Exxon worker fell nine per cent last year to $171,582 while Chevron’s median worker pay dropped 12 per cent, to $161,488, filings showed.
Thetwo largest US oil majors posted record profits in 2022 on high energy prices and costs cuts measures including payroll reductions. Exxon posted the most among Western oil majors, $56bn.
Chevron’s profit more than doubled in 2022 to a record $36.5bn.
Exxon’s chief received the highest percentage increase among peers with Chevron chief executive Michael Wirth receiving a four per cent increase.
Occidental Petroleum’s chief executive Vicki Hollub’s pay rose 35 per cent while ConocoPhillips chief executive Ryan Lance’s pay fell 16 per cent, all compared to their prior year.
The median annual pay for Occidental workers rose 19 per cent last year to $187,168 while at Conoco it fell one per cent to $177,533 according to their proxy filings.
Under a new calculation disclosure required by the SEC on potential gains by executives on unvested stock awards, Woods’ pay was $89.7m in 2022, a securities filing showed.
The figure provides more transparency on compensation given by companies in equity, according to shareholders advocacy group As We Sow.
But it is not the best reflection of a compensation as the total value cashed out by executives could only be known when options are exercised or stock are sold, the group says.
Under the same metric, Woods lost more than $7m in 2020.
Reuters – Sabrina Valle
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