Item 1.     Business.

Exxon Mobil Corporation, formerly named Exxon Corporation, was incorporated in the State of New Jersey in 1882. On November 30, 1999, Mobil Corporation became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Exxon Corporation, and Exxon changed its name to Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Divisions and affiliated companies of ExxonMobil operate or market products in the United States and about 200 other countries and territories. Their principal business is energy, involving exploration for, and production of, crude oil and natural gas, manufacture of petroleum products and transportation and sale of crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products. ExxonMobil is a major manufacturer and marketer of basic petrochemicals, including olefins, aromatics, polyethylene and polypropylene plastics and a wide variety of specialty products. ExxonMobil also has interests in electric power generation facilities. Affiliates of ExxonMobil conduct extensive research programs in support of these businesses.

Exxon Mobil Corporation has several divisions and hundreds of affiliates, many with names that include ExxonMobil, Exxon, Esso or Mobil . For convenience and simplicity, in this report the terms ExxonMobil, Exxon, Esso and Mobil , as well as terms like Corporation, Company, our, we and its , are sometimes used as abbreviated references to specific affiliates or groups of affiliates. The precise meaning depends on the context in question.

Throughout ExxonMobil’s businesses, new and ongoing measures are taken to prevent and minimize the impact of our operations on the air, water and ground. This includes a significant investment in refining technology to manufacture low-sulfur motor fuels and projects to reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide emissions. ExxonMobil’s 2004 worldwide environmental costs for all such preventative and remediation steps were about $2.9 billion, of which $1.1 billion were capital expenditures and $1.8 billion were included in expenses. The total cost for such activities is expected to be about $3.0 billion in 2005 (with capital expenditures representing just over 40 percent of the total) and a similar amount is expected for 2006.

Operating data and industry segment information for the Corporation are contained on pages 75, 76, 88 and 89; information on oil and gas reserves is contained on pages 82 through 85 and information on Company-sponsored research and development activities is contained on page 57 of the Financial Section of this report.

The number of regular employees was 85.9 thousand, 88.3 thousand and 92.5 thousand at years ended 2004, 2003 and 2002, respectively. Regular employees are defined as active executive, management, professional, technical and wage employees who work full time or part time for the Corporation and are covered by the Corporation’s benefit plans and programs. Regular employees do not include employees of the company-operated retail sites (CORS). The number of CORS employees was 19.3 thousand, 17.4 thousand and 16.8 thousand at years ended 2004, 2003 and 2002, respectively.

ExxonMobil maintains a website at www.exxonmobil.com. Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are made available through our website as soon as reasonably practical after we electronically file or furnish the reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Also available on the Corporation’s website are the Company’s Corporate Governance Guidelines and Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, as well as the charters of the audit, compensation and nominating committees of the board of directors. All of these documents are available in print without charge to shareholders who request them. Information on our website is not incorporated into this report.

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Table of Contents

Index to Financial Statements

Factors Affecting Future Results

Competitive Factors:     The energy and petrochemical industries are highly competitive. There is competition within the industries and also with other industries in supplying the energy, fuel and chemical needs of industry and individual consumers. The Corporation competes with other firms in the sale or purchase of various goods or services in many national and international markets and employs all methods of competition which are lawful and appropriate for such purposes. A key component of the Corporation’s competitive position, particularly given the commodity-based nature of many of its products, is its ability to manage expenses successfully, which requires continuous management focus on reducing unit costs and improving efficiency.

Political Factors:     The operations and earnings of the Corporation and its affiliates throughout the world have been, and may in the future be, affected from time to time in varying degree by political instability and by other political developments and laws and regulations, such as forced divestiture of assets; restrictions on production, imports and exports; war or other international conflicts; civil unrest and local security concerns that threaten the safe operation of company facilities; price controls; tax increases and retroactive tax claims; expropriation of property; cancellation of contract rights; and environmental regulations. Both the likelihood of such occurrences and their overall effect upon the Corporation vary greatly from country to country and are not predictable.

Industry and Economic Factors:     The operations and earnings of the Corporation and its affiliates throughout the world are affected by local, regional and global events or conditions that affect supply and demand for oil, natural gas, petroleum products, petrochemicals and other ExxonMobil products. These events or conditions are generally not predictable and include, among other things, general economic growth rates and the occurrence of economic recessions; the development of new supply sources; adherence by countries to OPEC quotas; supply disruptions; weather, including seasonal patterns that affect energy demand and severe weather events that can disrupt operations; technological advances, including advances in exploration, production, refining, and petrochemical manufacturing technology and advances in technology relating to energy usage; changes in demographics, including population growth rates and consumer preferences; and the competitiveness of alternative hydrocarbon or other energy sources or product substitutes.

Project Factors:     In addition to the factors cited above, the advancement, cost and results of particular ExxonMobil projects depend on the outcome of negotiations with partners, governments, suppliers, customers or others; changes in operating conditions or costs; changes in rates of field decline; and the occurrence of unforeseen technical difficulties. See section 1 of Item 2 of this report for discussion of additional factors affecting future capacity growth and the timing and ultimate recovery of reserves.

Market Risk Factors:     See pages 39 and 40 of the Financial Section of this report for discussion of the impact of market risks, inflation and other uncertainties.

Projections, estimates and descriptions of ExxonMobil’s plans and objectives included or incorporated in Items 1, 2, 7 and 7A of this report are forward-looking statements. Actual future results, including project completion dates, production rates, capital expenditures, costs and business plans could differ materially due to, among other things, the factors discussed above and elsewhere in this report.

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Index to Financial Statements