With a record of $60bn in cash flow from operating activities last year, ExxonMobil appeared poised to embark on an acquisition spree this year, as the economic downturn, credit crisis and falling oil and gas prices puts pressure on its less-profitable competitors.

“Of all the majors, ExxonMobil clearly has the greatest ability, and some may say the stimulus, to go out and buy in future production growth,’’ Neil McMahon, senior analyst at Bernstein Research, wrote in one of the first research reports to broach the subject at the start of this year.