By Connor Hart
The Federal Trade Commission approved a consent order resolving antitrust concerns in connection with Exxon Mobil's roughly $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources.
Under the final order, Exxon is prohibited from nominating, designating or appointing Scott Sheffield, the founder and former chief executive of Pioneer, to its board, the FTC said Friday. Sheffield additionally can't serve in any advisory role to Exxon's board or management team.
The FTC sought to prevent Sheffield from gaining a seat on the oil giant's board of directors in May 2024, alleging that he had attempted to engage in collusive activity which would result in American consumers and businesses paying higher prices for gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil and jet fuel.S
Sheffield responded to the allegations at the time stating he had never exchanged competitively sensitive information. The FTC built its case against him, Sheffield said, on a false narrative about his statements and a dubious interpretation of the law.
The complaint came the same month that Exxon completed its purchase of Pioneer--a mega deal that more than doubled its footprint in the Permian Basin, located in the U.S. Southwest. Exxon said at that time its Permian production volume was expected to more than double to 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, and that the figure should rise to 2 million barrels in 2027.
Also on Friday, the FTC finalized a separate consent order that resolved antitrust concerns over another mega oil deal: Chevron's $53 billion purchase of Hess.
Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-17-25 1837ET