Just one day before Exxon Mobil was expected to unveil the biggest quarterly profit in US corporate history, the company's founding Rockefeller family gave warning that it was falling behind competitors in key areas of renewable technology such as wind and solar power.

The family, which still owns a substantial, but undisclosed, minority stake in the group, called for the appointment of a new independent chairman, which it said would be the best way to shake up the backward-looking senior management team.

Exxon Mobil, the world's biggest oil company, is expected to report first-quarter profits of about $12 billion (£6.05 billion) today, narrowly beating the record US quarterly profit of $11. ... Read full article