The Scoop
US regulators approved Exxon’s $60 billion takeover of Pioneer, people familiar with the matter said, with an unusual requirement: that the Pioneer CEO who orchestrated the deal not join the combined company’s board while the government readies price-fixing allegations against him.
The Federal Trade Commission has found evidence that Scott Sheffield, who retired at the end of last year, colluded with competitors and OPEC, the cartel of oil-producing countries that includes Saudi Arabia, in ways that may have raised gas prices, the people said. Formal allegations could come as soon as Thursday.
Those price-fixing allegations surfaced earlier this year in private lawsuits claiming that Pioneer, Hess, and other shale producers conspired to cap output, leading to higher prices at the pump. The FTC has conducted its own investigation into Sheffield’s dealings and uncovered what one person familiar with the matter said were alarming new details.
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The Exxon-Pioneer deal — along with the also pending merger of Chevron and Hess — was seen as a big test of how the Biden administration’s antitrust enforcement would mix with election-year politics when prices are voters’ top priority. US energy independence, too, has become a national-security issue since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Exxon has said the merger would make the country’s energy supplies more secure.