Exxon And Mobil Make History

History's biggest merger Tuesday created America's largest company. And together, Exxon and Mobil will be the biggest oil company in the world, reports CBS News Correspondent Anthony Mason.

But the numbers are staggering. Exxon Mobil, as the combined company will be called, will have 123,000 employees, $200 billion in revenue, and 47,000 gas stations worldwide.

But no one is more concerned than company employees, who have been left wondering whether or not they will have a job when the cuts are made.

Approximately 9,000 cuts was the official company estimate Tuesday. But cost savings was a key reason America's two biggest oil companies wanted to become one.

That low price is $11 a barrel, the lowest in a dozen years. At the same time, the cost of oil exploration is exploding.

"The really large fields, the fields that the big companies want to develop, are being found in progressively more difficult territory," says oil consultant Philip Verleger.

Verleger says deep offshore drilling has uncovered hugely profitable deposits. "But it just takes a huge amount of capital to take the risk," Verleger continues. "And smaller companies can't afford to take the risk because if they fail they're essentially out of business."

To develop an oil field can now be a billion dollar investment. So as big as Mobil is, it's no longer big enough. Analysts predict a wave of mergers will now follow. All this may mean the signs at the pump will change, but the mergers alone won't change the prices.