Exxon Mobil Corp

Exxon Mobil Corp. won a round in its bitter fight against Venezuela's state oil company Thursday as courts in several countries said they would freeze $12 billion in international assets held by Petroleos de Venezuela. Last year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez nationalized a heavy oil field in eastern Venezuela, and Exxon Mobil has been seeking to recover the value of its investment in the site ever since.

Venezuela on Tuesday suspended all commercial relations with Exxon Mobil Corp., including any deliveries of crude and oil products, amid a bitter dispute over the nationalization of the U.S. oil giant's heavy oil field. The move comes days after Exxon Mobil won backing from courts in the United States, Britain and the Netherlands to freeze as much as $12 billion in assets belonging to the Venezuelan state oil company as part of its strategy to recoup its investment.

With Wall Street's big bull run Thursday, Exxon Mobil Corp. became the only publicly traded company currently valued above half a trillion dollars. Shares of Exxon Mobil rose $2.33 to $89.62, pushing the market capitalization of the Irving, Texas-based oil company to $504.9 billion. That's more than the annual economic output of Argentina, Finland and Kazakhstan combined. Shares have gained 40% in the last 12 months, making Exxon Mobil 26% bigger than General Electric Co., the next largest U.S.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System joined with treasurers in six states and other investors Wednesday in an effort to raise pressure on Exxon Mobil Corp. to address global warming. Sacramento-based CalPERS and the investor coalition requested a meeting with independent directors of the world's biggest energy company to discuss its failure to pursue alternatives to petroleum-based fuels.

Cashing in on higher prices and production, oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. surprised Wall Street on Thursday with $10.5 billion in third-quarter profit, putting it on pace to smash earnings records for the full year. Exxon's earnings were the second-highest ever recorded by a publicly traded company -- behind its own $10.7-billion profit in last year's final quarter -- and helped reawaken the public outrage that came with this summer's record-high pump prices.

Lee Raymond, the tough-talking chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp. who built the nation's largest oil producer into the world's most valuable company, on Thursday said he would retire at the end of the year. Exxon President Rex Tillerson, widely seen as Raymond's heir apparent after 30 years with the company, is expected to be elected its next leader, the company said. The announcement ends years of speculation over when the 66-year-old Raymond would hand over the reins.

An Alabama circuit court judge reduced an $11.8-billion punitive damages award against Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp. to $3.5 billion in a lawsuit filed by the state seeking unpaid royalties on offshore natural gas leases. The decision comes two weeks after Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey declined to order a new trial over the verdict, which was awarded by a Montgomery state court jury Nov. 14. The initial $11.8-billion award was the largest handed down by a U.S. jury last year.

Exxon Mobil Corp. shattered its own record as the world's most profitable publicly traded corporation, as rising oil prices helped the company bring in better-than-ever income and revenue for the fourth quarter and 2007. Irving, Texas-based Exxon's net income rose 3% to $40.6 billion in 2007, surpassing its 2006 record of $39.5 billion. Chevron Corp. also posted strong earnings despite lower production and lagging profit from making and selling gasoline. Full-year profit at the San Ramon, Calif.

Oil companies under pressure from a wave of nationalization worldwide will probably remain on the sidelines of Exxon Mobil Corp.'s legal fight with Venezuela before launching into a similar battle, analysts said Friday. The biggest U.S. company has won court orders to freeze as much as $12 billion of Venezuela's oil assets around the globe as it fights for compensation for a project lost in President Hugo Chavez's nationalization drive.

Venezuela's state oil company reportedly moved to protect its assets from Exxon Mobil Corp.'s legal reach Monday as experts speculated that the South American energy giant may be suffering a severe cash shortage. Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, instructed its traders to deposit oil receipts with UBS bank in Switzerland, the Reuters news agency reported Monday. The move follows Exxon Mobil's victory last week persuading U.S.