Is Exxon Right This Time?

Original: Is Exxon Right This Time?

I've written the cover story for BusinessWeek, which hit the stands today. The topic is Exxon. The premise of the story is to take a reading of Big Oil by examining the most successful by far of all the companies; if Exxon has got problems, the rest definitely do. The story points out that Exxon retains superlative cash flow, but has numerous weaknesses built in to its system.

Ultimately, Exxon has successfully navigated the real and supposed crises of the last several decades by sticking steadfastly -- some say rigidly -- to much the same highly cautionary formula dev