GET DAILY REPORT FREE
Oil and gas CEOs are increasingly in the crosshairs of the Federal Trade Commission, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The FTC on Monday alleged Hess CEO John Hess had private talks with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, that could have pushed up oil prices. The allegations were attached to the antitrust enforcer’s approval of a $53 billion megamerger of Chevron and Hess, in which the companies agreed to block John Hess from joining Chevron’s board.
The FTC approved the deal and the prohibition on a 3-2 vote divided on party lines.
It is the second time this year antitrust enforcers have accused a chief executive of one the largest U.S. drillers of having improper communications with the global oil cartel and barred them from joining a board of directors. In May, it extracted the same unusual concession in a merger involving Exxon Mobil.
