Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policy and Procedure Memorandum for Services Obtained from the Independent Auditor

As revised by the audit committee on
February 21, 2023

Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, ExxonMobil's Audit Committee is responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of the independent auditor.  As part of this responsibility, the Audit Committee is required to pre-approve audit and non-audit services provided by the independent auditor in order to ensure the services do not impair the auditor's independence.  The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued rules specifying the types of services that an independent auditor may not provide to its audit client, as well as the Audit Committee's responsibility for administering the engagement of the independent auditor, including pre-approval of fees.  Accordingly, ExxonMobil's Audit Committee has adopted the following Pre-approval Policy and Procedure Memorandum for Audit, Audit-Related, and Tax services.  This Memorandum sets forth procedures and conditions whereby permissible services provided by the independent auditor will be pre-approved.

The Audit Committee has adopted an approach whereby all services obtained from the independent auditor will be pre-approved. Under this approach, an annual program of work will be approved for each of the following categories of services: Audit, Audit-related, and Tax.  Engagement-by-engagement pre-approval will not be required, except for exceptional or ad hoc incremental engagements with fees resulting in the fee category exceeding the aggregate pre-approved program of work for that category.  In general, a work program for each category of services can be supplemented with additional pre-approved amounts after appropriate review of the additional services with the Audit Committee.  The Audit Committee may consider specific engagements in the All Other Services category on an engagement-by-engagement basis.

For all services obtained from the independent auditor, the Audit Committee will consider whether such services are consistent with the SEC's rules on auditor independence.  The Audit Committee will consider the level of Audit and Audit-related fees in relation to all other fees obtained from the independent auditor, and will review such level each year.

The remainder of this Memorandum sets forth the procedures by which the Audit Committee will fulfill its responsibilities for pre-approving services. The Audit Committee will obtain appropriate input from ExxonMobil management on the general level of fees, the process for negotiating and reporting fees from the numerous locations where ExxonMobil operates and the independent auditor provides services, and the level of Audit and Audit-related fees compared to all other fees.

Pre-approval process and Delegation of authority

The primary review and pre-approval of services to be obtained from the independent auditor and related fees will be scheduled for the Audit Committee meeting each October for the following financial year.  If fees might otherwise exceed pre-approved amounts for any category of permissible services, then incremental amounts can be reviewed and pre-approved at subsequent Audit Committee meetings prior to commitment.  If needed, time will be set aside in any scheduled Audit Committee meeting for review and pre-approval of additional services.  No additional authority is delegated for pre-approval of services obtained from the independent auditor.

The term of any pre-approval applies to ExxonMobil's financial year. Thus Audit fees for the financial year may include work performed after the close of the calendar year. The pre-approval for Audit-related and Tax fees is on a calendar year basis.  Unused pre-approval amounts will not be carried forward to the next year.  Pre-approvals will be made by category of service, and cannot be transferred between categories.

The independent auditor and ExxonMobil management will jointly manage a process for collecting and reporting all fees billed by the independent auditor to ExxonMobil for each financial year.

Audit services

Engagement term, scope of service and fees for the annual examination of ExxonMobil's financial statements will be pre-approved by the Audit Committee.  These Audit services include the integrated audit of Exxon Mobil Corporation's consolidated financial statements (including required quarterly reviews) and the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, audits of affiliate and subsidiary statutory financial statements, and other procedures required to be performed by the independent auditor to be able to render an opinion on Exxon Mobil Corporation's consolidated financial statements.

The Audit Committee will be responsible for direction and oversight of the engagement of the independent auditor.  At its discretion, the Audit Committee will obtain input from ExxonMobil management on the terms of the engagement, the effectiveness with which the engagement is carried out, and the amount of Audit fees.  The independent auditor is responsible for the cost-effective management of the engagement, and for ensuring that Audit services are not provided prior to review and pre-approval by the Audit Committee.

Audit-related services

Audit-related services include services that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit of ExxonMobil's financial statements. These services include asset dispositions, benefit plan and joint venture audits, attestation procedures related to cost certifications and government compliance, consultations on accounting issues, and due diligence procedures.  Each year the Audit Committee will conduct a broad review of the proposed services to ensure the independence of the independent auditor is not impaired.

General pre-approval will occur in October of each year coincident with pre-approval of Audit services.  Applicable operating and staff functions will be requested to assign a process-owner to monitor the engagement of the independent auditor for Audit-related services. This will provide assurance that the aggregate dollar amount of services obtained does not exceed the pre-approval amount at any time, and that new engagements not contemplated in October are pre-approved prior to commitment.

Tax services

The Audit Committee concurs that the independent auditor may provide certain Tax services without impairing its independence.  These services include preparing local tax filings and related tax services, tax planning, and other services as permitted by SEC regulations. The Audit Committee will not permit engaging the independent auditor (1) in connection with a transaction, the sole purpose of which may be impermissible tax avoidance, (2) for other tax services that may be prohibited by SEC rules now or in the future or (3) to perform services under contingent fee arrangements.

The Associate General Tax Counsel within the ExxonMobil Tax Department will act as primary contact and monitor the scope of the engagement of the independent auditor for Tax services.  Such monitoring will  provide assurance that aggregate dollar amounts of services obtained from the independent auditors do not exceed pre-approved amounts at any time and that any new engagements not included in the general pre-approval in October are pre-approved prior to commitment.

All other services

If permissible other services are requested by ExxonMobil business units, each engagement must be pre-approved by the Audit Committee. Such requests should be supported by endorsement of the Exxon Mobil Corporation Controller and the Exxon Mobil Corporation General Auditor prior to review with the Audit Committee.    

Prohibited services

Independent auditors may not provide the following prohibited services: Bookkeeping, Financial Information Systems Design and Implementation, Appraisals or Valuation (other than Tax), Fairness Opinions, Actuarial Services, Internal Audit Outsourcing, Management Functions, Human Resources such as Executive Recruiting, Broker-dealer Services, Legal Services, or Expert Services such as providing expert testimony or opinions where the purpose of the engagement is to advocate the client's position in an adversarial proceeding.  ExxonMobil personnel may not under any circumstances engage the independent auditor for prohibited services. Potential engagements not clearly permissible should be referred to the Exxon Mobil Corporation Controller or the Exxon Mobil Corporation General Auditor.