ExxonMobil Sues EU Over Windfall Profit Tax

Exxon Mobil Corp is suing the European Union in response to Brussels’ imposition of a windfall tax on oil corporations, according to media reports. The company claims that the levy will impede investment and ultimately be “counter-productive.”

According to reports going round, Exxon filed the action on Wednesday through its German and Dutch businesses at the European General Court in Luxembourg City. The lawsuit contests the legitimacy of the European Union Council’s use of emergency powers to compel member states to approve the imposition of a windfall tax.

The European Union has the right to impose a 33% tax on the earnings of energy companies starting in 2022 thanks to the EU windfall tax.

Casey Norton, an Exxon spokesperson, was quoted as saying that the company would be accounting for the windfall tax in its future multibillion-euro investments and that the tax was outside of Brussels’ purview and would ultimately be detrimental to investor confidence.

“Whether we invest here primarily depends on how attractive and globally competitive Europe will be,” he reportedly said..

Kathryn Mikells, chief financial officer of Exxon, has said that the EU’s windfall profit levies on the oil industry might cost $2 billion by the end of the year, according to a statement she made to investors on December 8. That contrasts with the $3 billion Exxon put in European refinery projects during the previous ten years.

Exxon contends that the windfall tax will be counterproductive because its refinery developments aim to lessen Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and gas.

It appears that the supermajor American oil firm is anticipating that the lawsuit will put pressure on Brussels to repeal the windfall tax.