Chevron’s $53 Billion Deal for Hess in Jeopardy on Possible Exxon Challenge

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Chevron warned investors Monday that Exxon Mobil and China’s Cnooc are asserting they have a right to pre-empt the company’s bid for a stake in a prolific oil project off Guyana, an emerging dispute that could derail Chevron’s megadeal for Hess.

Chevron said in a regulatory filing that Exxon and Cnooc say they have the right to counter Chevron’s offer for Hess’s stake in the Guyana project, which Exxon operates and is one of the largest oil finds in years. Chevron warned investors it may not complete its purchase of Hess “within the time frame the company anticipates or at all.”

Much of the value in Chevron’s $53 billion all-stock acquisition of Hess proposed last year was tied to the smaller New York oil company’s 30% stake in an Exxon-led drilling consortium in Guyanese waters. The partnership has expanded oil production far faster than most offshore oil projects and expects to pump over 1 million barrels a day in coming years.

The development is a potential blow to Chevron’s largest acquisition in years, though it isn’t clear if Exxon and Cnooc will make a counteroffer. At this point, they are only asserting their right to do so.

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The dispute boils down to the terms of a joint operating agreement, or JOA, signed more than a decade ago, which governs the consortium. Hess had entered the JOA in 2014 when it purchased its stake from Shell. Some JOAs allow existing partners, like Exxon, to participate in ownership changes, and pre-empt an offer for an ownership stake with an offer of their own.

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Exxon has a 45% share in the Guyana oil project and Cnooc owns the remaining 25%.

The clash with Exxon is a setback for Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth, who late last year disclosed delays and cost overruns for a massive oil project in Kazakhstan, as well as shareholder returns that have recently underperformed rival Exxon.

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Exxon and Chevron have sold off billions of assets in Asia and Africa in recent years, underscoring the growing importance of the U.S. shale plays and South America. Chevron last year began pumping oil in Venezuela again as the Biden administration eased sanctions. It helped to restore production there to faster growth than the market anticipated. It also is investing in Argentina’s shale and is exploring for oil and gas off Suriname, near Guyana.

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