Exxon's Block Fails—Chevron Seals $53 Billion Hess Deal After Ruling

In a pivotal moment for the energy sector, Chevron Corporation‘s (NYSE:CVX) has won a dispute with Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) over Hess Corp’s (NYSE:HESS) offshore oil assets in Guyana.

Exxon CEO Darren Woods confirmed the latest news in an interview with CNBC on Friday.

The International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) ruling, which favors Chevron, allows the oil major to complete its $53 billion acquisition of Hess.

“We disagree with the ICC panel’s interpretation but respect the arbitration and dispute resolution process. As we’ve said before, ExxonMobil and CNOOC are aligned that we had a duty to ensure contract terms are always adhered to and not set a bad precedent for ourselves and industry,” Exxon said in a statement on Friday.

“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. We welcome Chevron to the venture and look forward to continued industry-leading performance and value creation in Guyana for all parties involved,” Exxon added.

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Exxon and China's CNOOC had taken their case to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), arguing they had a right of first refusal to buy Hess's stake in the Stabroek Block — a major oil project off the coast of Guyana.

Exxon owns 45% of the Stabroek Block and operates it, while CNOOC holds a 25% stake. Both companies opposed Hess's plan to sell itself to Chevron, claiming their contracts gave them the first right of refusal to buy Hess's interest in the block.

Chevron and Hess argued that those rights didn't apply because it was a full company sale, not just a sale of the Guyana assets.

Why It Matters

The disagreement raised doubts about whether Chevron's deal to acquire Hess would go through, putting pressure on Chevron's stock. If Exxon had won the case, the deal could have fallen apart.

The Wall Street Journal noted that in Guyana, Exxon runs ships that extract around 650,000 barrels of oil per day. By 2027, oil companies plan to increase that to 1.2 million barrels per day. This would make the small South American nation of 800,000 people one of the top oil producers per person in the world.

On Thursday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reversed a previous decision that blocked Hess CEO John B. Hess from joining Chevron's board after its planned acquisition of Hess.

In January 2025, the FTC issued a final order preventing Hess from serving on the board of Chevron.

The agency claimed that Hess had shown support for OPEC's efforts to control oil production and argued that his presence on Chevron's board could lead to the company aligning more closely with OPEC, raising competition concerns.

The decision to overturn the earlier order was passed with a unanimous 3-0 vote.

CVX Price Action: Chevron shares were up 2.97% at $155.87 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro.

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