Exxon Mobil Corporation

Workers at ExxonMobil's Massive Baytown Plant (Almost) Went On Strike over safety

The folks over at Exxon Mobil's Baytown refinery were facing a possible Norma Rae situation last week when local United Steelworkers representatives threatened a strike if the Exxon people didn't put in the health and safety provisions they'd asked for in their contracts. Local USW rep Rich "Hoot" ... More >>

The Ten Most Corrupt Tax Loopholes

If Mitt Romney won't tell you which need to be closed, we will.

Why Big Companies Hide Contact Information on Their Web Sites

A few years ago, I was getting ready to sell a house. My existing mortgage company had been purchased by another company and my account had been transferred. However, when it was transferred, the permissions that allow customer service representatives to do basic, but important, tasks like provide a ... More >>

Photos Of A Guy Crapping In The Press Parking Lot & Its Aftermath

Life in the big city. We're not sure if it was an offended reader (maybe a Phish Phan?) or just someone who answers nature's call wherever he might be, but someone took a crap in our parking lot last week. Shit happens, you know? But someone in the nearby ExxonMobil building had a camera working a ... More >>

Fire at ExxonMobil a Buzzkill for Lunch Crowd

The lunch crowd at ExxonMobil got a surprise today when the food court and dining room had to be evacuated because of a fire in a lower level. Food-service workers say they were in the midst of preparing and serving lunch for some 900 clients when a burning smell was detected. Service was suspended ... More >>

Giant Duck Threatens To Bring ExxonMobil To Its Knees (w/Video)

Photos and video by Monica FuentesDon't get this duck angry​If ExxonMobil collapses by the end of the day into bankruptcy, with company executives begging for forgiveness for their polluting ways, all the credit should go to a giant inflatable duck. The duck is being displayed across the stre ... More >>

Exxon's New Giant Oil Find Could Meet World Needs For....A Couple of Months

Fighting with the feds over who gets that sweet, sweet oil​The energy world is marveling today at news that ExxonMobil's recent discovery in the Gulf of Mexico could contain up to a billion barrels of oil. "The only thing that surprised the energy industry more than Exxon Mobil Corp.'s mammot ... More >>

Seven Creepy (Or Beautiful) Pictures of the Downtown YMCA's Demolition

Photos by Monica FuentesComing down piece by piece.​Demolition is continuing on the charming old Downtown YMCA building, which is nestled among modern skyscrapers. The insides are being exposed now -- empty rooms, wall signs, even the scoreboard for the basketball court. It can all get prett ... More >>

ExxonMobil Making Big Move To North Houston

ExxonMobilBucolic energy companies​ExxonMobil has finally made official the long-rumored plans to build a large office campus in north Houston and move a bunch of its employees there, including all in its downtown Bell Street headquarters. The 385-acre site near the intersection of I-45 and ... More >>

ExxonMobil's Baytown Refinery Sued For Being So Damn Leaky

Headed to court​Following in the footsteps of Shell and and ChevronPhillips, ExxonMobil has been sued by environmental groups who say its refinery routinely violates clean-air regulations and doesn't really do anything about it. The Sierra Club and Environment Texas announced their lawsuit to ... More >>

New-School Pirates Are No Longer After Your Buried Treasure

We miss the old-school pirates​Being a pirate on the high seas isn't what it used to be. The rum-swigging, foul-mouthed, unkempt groups in search of buried treasure have evolved in the 21st century. Their new concern: Fueltrax systems. How's Disney supposed to make a movie around that plot line? ... More >>

ExxonMobil Sued Over Alleged Exec's Anti-Social Behavior

Someone is just a tad angry with ExxonMobil​The introduction to a lawsuit filed by a businessman against ExxonMobil and one of its executives says it all: "This case is about criminal and civic disobedience, but this litigation is also about fundamental issues of freedom, respect, dignity and ec ... More >>

$7 at SunMart #139

​ Where: SunMart Mobil Station, 3200 Holcombe Blvd, Houston 77021 What $7 gets you: A tasty and cheap dinner, Fanta, and a pack of Tums. We stopped at SunMart Mobil to get gas, and stopped in for a drink and to pay. It smelled awesome inside, and our evening plans to get a salad were squashe ... More >>

New On DVD: The Yes Men Fix the World

The Yes Men​Depending on your world view, The Yes Men Fix the World, out on DVD today, is either very, very funny or really, really not funny at all. But humorous or not, it is entertaining and should be required viewing for anyone who doubts that big business is out to screw the public.In th ... More >>

Exxon Leads The Environmental Fight By Suing The U.S. Over Winning World War II

​If there's one company out there that won't put up with illegal oil dumping, it's Exxon. These guys are hawks about pollution, and they will sue whoever the hell they need to in order to bring evildoers to justice.So they're suing the United States, which blithely went ignored all sorts of Enviro ... More >>

Welcome to Arizona

Judge who helped BP went on junket party on their tab.

If Dallas Can Sponsor Their Landmark Implosions, So Can We

Hair Balls was excited to learn that Kraft Foods (specifically Kraft Macaroni & Cheese) is a frontrunner in the race to sponsor the implosion of Texas Stadium. Actually, we were first awestruck to learn about it, because we didn't think you could sponsor the destruction of buildings unless you l ... More >>

A Quiet Hell

Thanks to lax enforcement by TCEQ, plants along the Houston Ship Channel launch tons of toxic gases into our air, and face little penalty even when they exceed pollution limits over and over again.

Gas Station Sushi

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt​Only a few short days after Eating Our Words' body revolted violently against some inadvisedly consumed cheese enchiladas that had been on a steam table for far too long, as it turns out, we decided to show our stomach who's boss. Take back the night! And what bett ... More >>

Houston Companies Don't Do Too Badly In Survey Of Gay-Friendly Workplaces

​The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has issued its latest rankings of how businesses treat their gay and lesbian employees, and things look a little better than last year.The report gave 305 businesses a top score of 100 this year; that's an increase from last year's 260. Eleven of the top 20 Fo ... More >>

ExxonMobil Fined $600,000; We Think They Can Come Up With It

​Let's be honest.There aren't a lot of "bad days" for a global petrochemical company that made a record $45.2 billion profit last year, so we'll just say ExxonMobil had a less than stellar day on Wednesday when state regulators penalized it more than $600,000 for environmental crimes.ExxonMobil's ... More >>

The Crucifer of Blood at the Alley Theatre

Todd Waite as Sherlock HolmesThe Crucifer of Blood, this year's ExxonMobil Summer Chills series at the Alley Theatre is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Sign of Four which was the second novel he ever wrote about Sherlock Holmes (after A Study in Scarlet). As Hair Balls wrote ... More >>

The Crucifer of Blood

Play it cool at the ExxonMobil Summer Chills whodunit

$7 at Bell Street Cafe

Photo by Craig HlavatyChicken Veronique at Bell Street CafeWhere: Bell Street Cafe, 800 Bell Street (under the Exxon Building) What $7 gets you: Surprisingly fresh and cheap food. Dining under the Exxon building, right next to the Houston Press building, means that you will be eating with a millio ... More >>

Don't Worry About That Plane Buzzing Downtown Houston. Really

Houstonians downtown during today's lunch hour were treating to a very curious aerial display as they walking to and from their offices. A small single-engine was seen doing swoops and twirls in between our tallest skyscrapers. The plane's flight was mostly up and down Main, but the flight plan seem ... More >>

Health Code Roundup: Health Department Violations Waning?

I don't know whether to be impressed or disgusted. That's because I'm not sure if all the restaurateurs have been on their best behavior, or if the Health Department has just been sitting around playing GTA4 on the Xbox 360s they got for Christmas, because there were no health code violations whatso ... More >>

How Can Exxon Make A Giant Profit And Conoco A Giant Loss? Gas Is Gas, Right?

After reading about ExxonMobil's record $45.2 billion annual profit, Hair Balls was scratching our head over why Exxon had a profitable fourth quarter, when Conoco lost $31.8 billion. Does Exxon jack up the cost of Little Debbies at its stores or something?Fortunately, we caught Hoover's Oil & G ... More >>

ExxonMobil To Worker, Allegedly: Ignoring Racial Harassment Won't Make You An "Uncle Tom"

Tensions Are Rising

Another Day, Another 1,300 Pounds Of Benzene Accidentally Released

Protests Against ExxonMobil, But Not In Houston

ExxonMobil Isn't Making Enough Money

Houston Dissed, A Continuing Saga

High Gas Prices Still Hurting Touring Bands

Notes toward a post-cheap-gas touring economy

Dewberry Time

The Austin Lounge Lizards

The Austin Lounge Lizards perform Saturday, January 6, at McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, 713-528-5999.

All Aboard

Since 9/11, tanker sailors are having a tough time making it to dry land in Houston

Win a Few, Lose One

Service station dealers record a couple of victories in their court battles with parent oil companies

Pumped Up

Threatened station dealers score big in wins against oil giants

Pumped Dry

Gas station dealers find big oil blocking the way in their struggles against extinction

Paying the Price

Major gas companies are driving away independent station operators, all in the name of greed

Station Breaks

What oil companies are doing to their dealers

Oil Giant's Policy Fuels Gays' Protest

Activists rally ExxonMobil for recognition of same-sex-partner benefits

Adrift

Has the fight over port expansion turned a bay watchdog group into a rubber duck?

Scenes from the Bayou Sphere

Smile! It's Earth Day!

The Fine This Time

OSHA spanks Exxon for safety lapses at its Baytown refinery

The Fire Next Time?

Downsizing, outsourcing, deferred maintenance ... It all makes for a volatile mix at Baytown's Exxon refinery.

Days of Living Dangerously