Chevron’s megadeal for Hess gets approval after winning legal battle with Exxon

Chevron will proceed with its $53 billion acquisition of Hess, after it prevailed in a landmark legal battle against larger rival Exxon Mobil to gain access to the largest oil discovery in decades.

Chevron will proceed with its $53 billion acquisition of Hess, after it prevailed in a landmark legal battle against larger rival Exxon Mobil to gain access to the largest oil discovery in decades. It is vindication for CEO Mike Wirth’s strategy and a critical win since Hess’ most attractive asset is its stake in the prolific Stabroek Block off the coast of Guyana, which holds more than 11 billion barrels of oil, a source of growth as Chevron works to turn around its lagging performance. Shares of Chevron rose 3.6% in premarket trading, while those of Hess jumped 7.4%. Exxon shares were marginally lower. “We disagree with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) panel’s interpretation but respect the arbitration and dispute resolution process,” Exxon said in a statement. “Given the significant value we’ve created in the development of the Guyana resource, we believed we had a clear duty to our investors to consider our preemption rights to protect the value we created through our innovation and hard work at a time when no one knew just how successful this venture would become,” the company added. There is no appeals process at the International Chamber of Commerce, the court that oversaw the arbitration case. Exxon said in its statement that it respects the arbitration and dispute resolution process.