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The company confirmed  that the agency requested information and documents from Exxon and its accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in August. At the center of the probe is the question of why the Texas oil giant has not written down the value of its oil and gas assets in light of the crash in crude prices and how the company is managing the growing financial risk climate change poses to its business.

A spokeswoman for the SEC declined to comment Tuesday.

RELATED: N.Y. investigation looking at Exxon's valuation of reserves

The federal investigation put additional legal scrutiny on Exxon Mobil, which is already under investigation by the New York Attorney General’s Office to determine whether it defrauded the public and its investors over the risks posed by climate change.

It also adds weight to growing concern among investors that fossil fuel companies like Exxon face a strained financial future, as world governments increasingly shift towards lower carbon forms of energy to try and combat climate change.

While Exxon has resisted writing down the value of its assets – a long held practice at the company which expects projects to succeed in low price commodity markets – other U.S. oil and gas companies have written down the value of their reserves nearly $200 billion since oil prices began falling in late 2014, IHS Energy reported in July.

The investigation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.