Exxon’s move furthers cements Houston’s status as the nation’s energy capital and helps the company adjust to a rapidly changing market. Exxon and other energy companies are riding waves dealt by the pandemic, the Ukraine war and a shift toward cleaner energy alternatives. The company is eyeing massive Houston-area investments in lower-carbon solutions, including a $100 billion project to capture carbon dioxide emissions from the city’s industrial area along the Ship Channel.

Exxon has said it also plans to combine its chemical and refining businesses and centralize its technology and engineering operations.

Roughly 250 employees were relocating to Houston as part of the move, Exxon said previously. The company’s Spring campus boasts about 20 buildings and features a 100,000-square-foot gym, an on-site daycare center for as many as 300 children, a town hall and auditorium and an outdoor plaza that can accommodate up to 3,500 people.

The sprawling Spring campus was built eight years ago to house 10,000 employees, but the energy firm has reduced its head count in recent years as oil companies have learned to do more with less under pressure from Wall Street to reduce costs. As of January 2022, Exxon had 8,500 employees working out of Spring. The company employs more than 60,000 people globally.

Although Exxon has long had a major presence in Houston — Humble Oil, founded in 1911, became part of Exxon in 1973 — the company has been headquartered in North Texas for the past three decades. Exxon, formerly Standard Oil of New Jersey, moved to Irving from New York City in 1989.