Exxon CEO’s pay rose 52% in 2022, highest among oil peers

By Sabrina Valle

HOUSTON (Reuters) -U.S. 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% increase.

The largest U.S. oil company on Thursday disclosed Chief Executive Darren Woods was paid $35.9 million 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 9% last year to $171,582 while Chevron’s median worker pay dropped 12%, to $161,488, filings showed.

The two largest U.S. 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, $56 billion. Chevron’s profit more than doubled in 2022 to a record $36.5 billion.

Exxon’s chief received the highest percentage increase among peers with Chevron CEO Michael Wirth receiving a 4% increase. Occidental Petroleum’s CEO Vicki Hollub’s pay rose 35% while ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance’s pay fell 16%, all compared to their prior year.

The median annual pay for Occidental workers rose 19% last year to $187,168 while at Conoco it fell 1% 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 $89.7 million 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 $7 million in 2020.

(Reporting by Sabrina Valle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)