NEW YORK -- Members of the Rockefeller family, descended from the founder of what became Exxon Mobil Corp., called on the oil giant today to split the roles of chairman and CEO and give directors more say in how the company is run.

The family members, who described themselves as the company's longest continuous shareholders, said they were concerned about the direction of the Houston-based company. It was formed by the combination of two offspring of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust and is now the world's largest publicly traded oil company.

Members of the family said they had sponsored four proxy resolutions this year that raised concerns about the company's leadership under Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson. They also said they had spent years behind the scenes prodding the company to change its approach to the oil business.

The calls for reform came one day before Exxon Mobil was scheduled to report first-quarter earnings of more than $11 billion, according to according to a survey by Thomson Financial. Thanks to soaring oil prices, that is considerably more than the company earned a year earlier, and could even top Exxon Mobil's own record for the biggest quarterly profit in U.S. history.

The company's board is recommending shareholders vote against a proposal to split the role of chairman and CEO. In a recent proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the board said "that the most effective leadership structure for Exxon Mobil Corp. at the present time is for Mr. Tillerson to serve as both chairman and CEO."

Exxon Mobil spokesman Gantt Walton said the company had met with members of the Rockefeller family on multiple occasions and "respects the rights of all shareholders to make their views known," but that it does not comment on details of meetings with shareholders.