Exxon tries to preempt fury from first-quarter profits

Exxon Mobil Corp. is trying to limit the firestorm that will erupt Thursday when it reports what are expected to be robust first-quarter profits — numbers that are already drawing White House attacks amid high gas prices.

In a post on the company’s “Perspectives” blog, Exxon's Ken Cohen suggests a “few things to consider when you see the inevitable headlines and sound bites about high gasoline prices and what to do about them.”

Cohen, the VP of public and government affairs, notes that less than 3 percent of the company’s earnings stem from U.S. gasoline sales, while oil prices are set on the global market (as in, Exxon isn't the decider here).

“ExxonMobil owns less than 1 percent of the world’s oil reserves, and it produces less than 3 percent of the world’s daily oil supply, so it’s really not credible to suggest that we are responsible for world oil prices,” Cohen writes.

He also notes that these oil prices are the main component of prices at the pump.

Cohen’s post comes as the White House is increasingly criticizing oil companies and ramping up its push to repeal tax incentives. Democrats in the House and Senate are getting in on the action too.