While rivals including Shell and BP suffer billions of dollars in damage as a coronavirus-induced economic slowdown weighs on an already struggling shale sector, Exxon Mobil (XOM -one%) has yet to write down shale assets this year, believing that oil and gas values will eventually recover.
Several oil and gas accounting experts allege that Exxon’s reluctance to adjust the value of shale assets on its balance sheet amounts to accounting fraud, WSJ reports, citing complaints filed with the SEC that the company is misleading investors by failing to write down much of the value of XTO Energy, a natural gas driller it bought for $ 31 billion a decade ago, along with other assets.
Exxon’s refusal to write its acquisition of XTO is part of a “long-standing, arrogant, aberrant stance” at the company, one of the accountants, Franklin Bennett, a former Exxon senior accounting analyst, said in a complaint filed under the SEC whistleblowing program that was watched by WSJ.
Exxon says it complies with SEC accounting rules and regulations on disclosures to investors.
