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Disclaimer: This report has been updated through 20 August 2026. The information is provided for reference only and does not represent any opinion, recommendation, or endorsement.
Exxon Mobil Corporation is a US-based integrated energy and chemicals company with a patent portfolio spanning petroleum refining and process technology, catalysts and catalytic cracking, petrochemicals and polymer chemistry, polyolefins and elastomers, lubricants and base stocks, upstream exploration and seismic imaging, drilling and reservoir engineering, liquefied natural gas processing, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen production, and advanced recycling and lower-emission fuels. Its filings cover molecular sieve and zeolite catalyst design, polymerisation processes and metallocene catalysis, hydroprocessing and separation technologies, subsurface characterisation and enhanced recovery, and emissions reduction and carbon management systems. The company operates through its Upstream, Product Solutions, and Low Carbon Solutions businesses, and the portfolio reflects more than a century of petroleum and chemical engineering research across multiple decades and jurisdictions.
ExxonMobil’s patent portfolio comprises 96,342 patents distributed across 28,417 simple families and 24,064 extended families. The portfolio spans 79 jurisdictions, the broadest geographic coverage in this report series, and includes patents associated with refining, petrochemicals, catalysts, upstream technology, lubricants, and lower-emission energy systems.
ExxonMobil’s portfolio consists of 14,350 active assets and 81,952 inactive assets. Active holdings include 8,546 granted patents and 5,804 patent applications. The large inactive base, dominated by patents expired due to term and abandoned applications, is characteristic of a research portfolio accumulated over more than a century in which a substantial share of early filings has run its full patent term.
ExxonMobil’s patents span 79 jurisdictions, with the United States accounting for the largest share of filings and grants.
Total Patents:96,342
The portfolio is distributed across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, with the United States accounting for the largest concentration. The substantial holdings in Canada, Australia, and Brazil are distinctive among the companies in this series and reflect the geography of ExxonMobil’s upstream resource base and its long-running exploration and production research.
ExxonMobil’s patent portfolio is overwhelmingly concentrated in the industrial domain, which in this classification captures refining processes, catalysts, petrochemicals, polymers, and upstream production technology. The secondary domains reflect adjacent research areas: consumer goods covering lubricants and finished products, computer systems and components covering process control and instrumentation, and software covering seismic interpretation, reservoir modelling, and process optimisation.
The citation network maps closely to the global integrated energy and chemicals sector. Beyond ExxonMobil’s own filings, the largest citation volumes involve Chevron, Shell, Dow, BP, ConocoPhillips, Honeywell, BASF, IFP Energies Nouvelles, and Mitsui Chemicals, alongside state-affiliated research entities in China and Saudi Arabia, reflecting the significant role of national oil company research programmes in this field.
ExxonMobil’s patent portfolio consists of 93,891 originally assigned patents and 2,454 acquired patents, meaning approximately 97% of the portfolio was developed internally. This reflects a research model built around large in-house corporate laboratories rather than technology acquisition, notable given that the company’s largest corporate transactions have been resource acquisitions valued in the tens of billions of dollars.
ExxonMobil completed its acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources in May 2024 in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately US$60 billion, the largest deal in the company’s modern history. The acquisition roughly doubled its Permian Basin footprint and underpins the planned production growth of approximately 9% compound annual growth rate through 2030. The transaction was primarily a resource and acreage acquisition rather than a technology purchase, which is why it contributes relatively little to the acquired-patent count.
ExxonMobil acquired Denbury Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately US$4.9 billion, securing the largest owned and operated carbon dioxide pipeline network in the United States. The acquisition supports the Low Carbon Solutions business and its carbon capture and storage offering for industrial customers.
Following a corporate reorganisation and relocation of its state of incorporation to Texas, the listed parent entity now reports as ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation, continuing to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker XOM.
ExxonMobil is one of the largest publicly traded integrated energy and chemicals companies in the world, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker XOM. It operates through Upstream, Product Solutions, and Low Carbon Solutions segments, and is the largest refiner outside China.
Exxon Mobil Corporation
22777 Springwoods Village Parkway
Spring, TX 77389
United States
ExxonMobil’s global headquarters are located in Spring, Texas, in the Houston metropolitan area.
ExxonMobil’s patent portfolio includes 96,342 patents across 79 jurisdictions. The portfolio contains patent assets in petroleum refining and process technology, catalysts, petrochemicals and polymers, lubricants and base stocks, upstream exploration and production, liquefied natural gas, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and advanced recycling technologies.
The portfolio includes 28,417 simple families, 24,064 extended families, 1 litigated patent, and 2 challenged patents, with 14,350 active assets of which 5,804 are pending applications.
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