Exxon to Conclude Takeover With Pioneer Founder Under a Cloud
- Deal would make Exxon the Permian’s biggest oil producer
- Chevron, Occidental, Chesapeake also awaiting FTC decisions
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The US Federal Trade Commission declined to challenge Exxon Mobil Corp.’s $60 billion purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. on the condition that Pioneer co-founder Scott Sheffield be excluded from the supermajor’s board.
The decision, announced Thursday in a filing, will ease concern the Biden administration would seek to block a series of oil and natural gas mega-mergers, but it came at a hefty price. The antitrust agency says it found evidence Sheffield sought to communicate with OPEC and US peers about oil pricing and output, potentially driving up costs for consumers.