Perhaps emboldened with shakeups in corporate board rooms across the country, some Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders have called for the roles of chairman and chief executive officer to be separated. Lee Raymond has held the dual roles since Exxon and Mobil merged in November 1999; he had held both roles at Exxon before the merger.

Institutional Shareholder Services filed the proposal, one of several scheduled to be discussed at the company’s annual meeting on May 28 in Irving, TX. The proposal, filed by founder Robert Monks, said the separate management positions were necessary to allow input from both an independent board and an independent management team.

Monks, who believes the chairman role should be held by a non-employee of Exxon Mobil, said that separating the two titles would “provide greater accountability of management to the shareholders, and provide more independent oversight of management, including the CEO, by the board of directors.”

Several shareholders expressed concern about renewable energy. One proposal requested that Exxon prepare a report by September 2003 “explaining how the company will respond to rising regulatory, competitive and public pressure” to develop renewable sources. Another wants the global giant to invest more in renewables.

At the annual meeting of Cambridge Energy Research Associates in Houston in early February, Raymond, an Exxon employee since 1963, predicted that conventional fuels would remain the world’s dominant energy source through at least mid century. He said the “so-called renewables, such as wind and solar power” would grow “rapidly,” but “primarily due to government policies and incentives, not market economics.” He noted then that currently, solar power costs between $100-$250/boe.

At last year’s annual meeting, eight proposals were offered by shareholders. None were approved. Exxon issued no comment about the proposals.

©Copyright 2003 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.