FTC set to greenlight chevron’s $53 billion purchase of oil rival Hess, assets say

By Sabrina Valle

(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is expected to greenlight U.S. oil producer Chevron’s purchase of Hess as soon as this week, two people familiar with the matter said, leaving Exxon Mobil’s challenge to the $53 billion deal as its final hurdle.

The proposed merger was first announced last October, and the FTC sent a second information request to Chevron two months later. Uncertainty over the deal’s closing has knocked Chevron shares down 1% this year compared to a 6.5% increase in energy share fund XLE .

Exxon and CNOOC Ltd, Hess’s partners in a Guyana joint venture, are challenging the deal by claiming a right of first refusal to any sale of Hess’s Guyana assets, the prize in the proposed merger.

(Reporting by Sabrina Valle and Jody Godnoy; writing by Gary McWilliams)