ExxonMobil will donate $250,000 to the Presidential Inaugural Committee, according to a report in The Hill, a surprising donation from an industry that fought tooth and nail to defeat President Obama and elect Mitt Romney.

In 2012, Exxon’s employees donated $185, 985 to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, with $88,000 going to President Obama. Last August, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson held a fundraiser for Romney that netted $7 million. In the last cycle, Tillerson donated $5,000 to Romney’s presidential campaign and $34,300 to the Republican National Committee, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Energy giant Southern Company, historically a Republican donor, also donated to the inaugural committee.

After the oil and gas industry spent millions to try to defeat Obama and elect a candidate more friendly to their views, $250,000 to the inaugural committee might seem like a drop in the bucket--and it is for a company that makes billions every year. But it shows that big companies like Exxon know how Washington works and they know if their guy loses, they have to make friends with the other one. It’s a good example that while ideology matters in Washington, so does power. And money follows power in the nation's capital—and Exxon knows who has it.