Exxon, Chevron Scramble to Protect $40B Cash Booty

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 25, 2009 11:22 AM CDT

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Exxon, Chevron Scramble to Protect $40B Cash Booty — "The challenge for companies sitting on a lot of cash is to earn the highest return they can," one analyst says. "There%u2019s little doubt they are earning less on their cash than they were a year ago.%u201D (AP Photo)

In times like these, everyone’s got problems. Exxon and Chevron? Finding safe places to stash $40 billion they stockpiled while oil prices were stratospheric last summer. “The biggest challenge we’ve had is making sure all the cash is there every morning,” Exxon’s CEO tells Bloomberg, adding of his treasurer, “I tell Don he has to count every dollar before he goes to bed.”

When vehicles like credit-default swaps started to sour, Exxon began shifting its cash. “We had to make a lot of fairly significant moves very quickly,” notes the CEO. Now, neither company will say where it’s parked its billions, but “let me assure you that we’re well protected,” says Chevron’s CEO. (More Exxon Mobil stories.)

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