✦ Carbon, Lithium and a Resin Nobody Has Heard OfThin moat

ExxonMobil (XOM) — the future bets

Seven new businesses, all of them adjacent to molecules ExxonMobil already owns, none of them large enough to disclose.

ExxonMobil's new-business list is printed identically in the 10-K, the 10-Q and every press release, which is itself informative: carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and ammonia, lower-emission fuels, Proxxima resin systems, carbon materials, low-carbon data centres, and lithium1. Seven ventures, no separate segment, no disclosed revenue.

Seven new ventures, and the asset each one reusesCarbon capture and storagereservoirs, pipelines, the Denbury CO2 networkHydrogen and ammoniasteam methane reforming at existing refineriesLower-emission fuelsthe same refineries againProxxima and carbon materialsthe chemical plants; 120kt/yr approved 2026Lithium and low-carbon data centressubsurface drilling; gas plus carbon captureAdjacency rather than diversification — which is why it has cost far less than the European programmes.
None is separately disclosed, and ExxonMobil reports four segments in considerable detail.

The strategy behind the list is more coherent than the list looks. Every item reuses something ExxonMobil already has. Carbon capture uses reservoir engineering, pipelines and the Denbury CO2 network acquired in 20232. Hydrogen and ammonia use steam methane reforming at existing refineries. Lower-emission fuels use the same refineries again. Proxxima and carbon materials use the chemical plants. Lithium uses subsurface brine extraction, which is a drilling problem. Low-carbon data centres use gas and carbon capture together. This is adjacency rather than diversification, and it is why ExxonMobil's new-ventures programme has cost so much less than the European majors' renewables programmes did.

The one that has reached a capital decision is the smallest-sounding. In the second quarter of 2026 the company took a final investment decision on a 120 thousand tonne a year Proxxima blending expansion in Louisiana3 — a thermoset resin system that competes with epoxies and steel in composites, pipe and rebar, and that belongs naturally in the Specialty Products segment that already earns 35.4 per cent on capital4.

The caveat is the company's own, and it is a strong one: the pursuit of these opportunities depends on the growth and development of markets for those products and services, including implementation of supportive and stable government policies and developments in technology to enable them to be provided cost-effectively at commercial scale5. Three conditions, none of them ExxonMobil's to control.

The size question answers itself. None of these businesses is separately reported, and ExxonMobil reports four segments in considerable detail. When one of them is large enough to disclose, it will be disclosed.

Follow the capital. Cash capital expenditure was $28,997 million in 2025, of which Upstream took $24,659 million, Energy Products $1,707 million, Chemical Products $1,395 million, Specialty Products $623 million and Corporate and Financing $613 million6. Whatever the new ventures are consuming, it is inside those last two lines.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

Seven new businesses, one capital decision — the Louisiana Proxxima expansion — and no separate disclosure, which is the honest measure of scale. The strategy is sound because each venture reuses assets ExxonMobil already has; the market formation is somebody else's decision.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Corporate and Financing expenses, latest quarter
$954M in Q2 2026, $195M more than a year earlier

Low Carbon Solutions is reported inside Corporate and Financing rather than as a segment. This quarter's rise came mainly from interest and tax, so the test is whether the new ventures are ever broken out.

Source: ExxonMobil Holdings Form 10-Q, Q2 2026 ↗
References
  1. ReportedExxonMobil's new-business list is printed identically in the 10-K, the 10-Q and every press release, which is itself informative: carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and ammonia, lower-emission fuels, Proxxima resin systems, carbon materials, low-carbon data centres, and lithium.
    Exxon Mobil Corporation Form 10-K for FY2025, Items 1 and 2 — Business and Properties: oil and gas production and reserves tables, wells drilling, the review of principal ongoing activities by region (United States, Canada/Other Americas incl. Guyana and Brazil, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania), lease and production-sharing terms including the Guyana Petroleum Activities Act 2023, employees, and the list of lower-emission and new business opportunities. — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedCarbon capture uses reservoir engineering, pipelines and the Denbury CO2 network acquired in 2023.
    Exxon Mobil Corporation Form 10-K for FY2025, notes to the consolidated financial statements — Note 3 Disclosures about Segments and Related Information (segment revenue, intersegment revenue, segment income, additions to property plant and equipment, total assets, geographic revenue and the revenue-from-contracts disaggregation), Note 7 Litigation and Other Contingencies, and Note 20 Mergers and Acquisitions covering Pioneer Natural Resources and Denbury. — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedIn the second quarter of 2026 the company took a final investment decision on a 120 thousand tonne a year Proxxima blending expansion in Louisiana — a thermoset resin system that competes with epoxies and steel in composites, pipe and rebar, and that belongs naturally in the Specialty Products segment that already earns 35.4 per cent on capital.
    ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation second-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-K of 31 July 2026) — earnings and volume summary by segment on both a GAAP and an adjusted basis, cash flow from operations excluding working capital, free cash flow, cash capital expenditures by segment, structural cost savings, adjusting items, and the chief executive's commentary. — Q2 2026 · publ. 31 July 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedIn the second quarter of 2026 the company took a final investment decision on a 120 thousand tonne a year Proxxima blending expansion in Louisiana — a thermoset resin system that competes with epoxies and steel in composites, pipe and rebar, and that belongs naturally in the Specialty Products segment that already earns 35.4 per cent on capital.
    Exxon Mobil Corporation Form 10-K for FY2025, Business Profile (Financial) — earnings after income taxes, average capital employed, return on average capital employed and cash capital expenditures for each segment and geography, and the corporate total. — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedThe caveat is the company's own, and it is a strong one: the pursuit of these opportunities depends on the growth and development of markets for those products and services, including implementation of supportive and stable government policies and developments in technology to enable them to be provided cost-effectively at commercial scale.
    Exxon Mobil Corporation Form 10-K for FY2025, Item 1A Risk Factors — supply and demand, economic conditions, other demand- and supply-related factors, other market factors, government and political factors, access limitations, lack of legal certainty, regulatory and litigation risks, and the climate change and energy transition discussion. — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedCash capital expenditure was $28,997 million in 2025, of which Upstream took $24,659 million, Energy Products $1,707 million, Chemical Products $1,395 million, Specialty Products $623 million and Corporate and Financing $613 million.
    Exxon Mobil Corporation Form 10-K for FY2025, Business Profile (Financial) — earnings after income taxes, average capital employed, return on average capital employed and cash capital expenditures for each segment and geography, and the corporate total. — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026