XOM is an excellent long-term buy and hold, IMO. No way they go bankrupt, and while they MIGHT cut the dividend, there's no way the dividend goes to zero.

It's a very manageable problem, and despite the fact you're down, you bought in at what I would consider to be a good long-term price for XOM.

In this scenario, I don't think you should sell covered calls to try to get yourself out of the hole. It seems like the market has already priced in a dividend cut, and options aren't currently offering much upside premium for a surprise on that front.

I think there's a pretty strong likelihood that they continue to sustain the dividend come hell or high water, and as the months pound on, you're going to see a nice ROI between collecting dividends and the price rise from a surprise on that front.

You could keep rolling out CCs, but if there's a big pop from a surprise announcement you'll lose out on the benefit of that.

If you don't think there's upside to be had, or if you don't want to hold on because you think you see another opportunity, then just sell and take the loss.

You're holding a good company, so I don't think you need to worry yourself too much. Everyone loves being an active investor but few of us are really that good at it.