Schumer Urges FTC To Halt Chevron-Hess $53B Merger Over Fear Of Gas Price Hike

Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer has called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to "pump the brakes" on Chevron Corp's proposed $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corp.

Schumer, who has previously advocated for heightened scrutiny of large-scale oil mergers, took to the social media platform X to urge the FTC to stop the deal.

"I'm sounding the alarm against yet another proposed Big Oil merger—a $53B deal between Chevron and Hess," he posted. "It would give Big Oil more fuel to raise gas prices."

"Trump might be hosting dinners for Big Oil execs, but the FTC should side with consumers and pump the breaks on this deal," he added.

Last October, Chevron announced its agreement to acquire Hess to expand its presence in the U.S. oil market as the acquisition adds significant volume of oil reserves to its portfolio from offshore fields in Guyana and shale deposits in North Carolina's Bakken Formation.

The proposed acquisition would not only provide the company with a significant presence in world's one of the newest oil producers, but also contribute to increased consolidation within the U.S. oil sector.

However, Schumer, along with 22 other Democratic senators, wrote to the FTC in November of last year, warning that multi-billion dollar acquisitions by oil and gas giants Exxon and Chevron could potentially result in higher prices for consumers.

Chevron also announced in November that it was in talks to extend a variety of contracts to supply European countries with liquefied natural gas (LNG) for a period of 15 years. In August 2023, Chevron completed the acquisition of PDC Energy.

The U.S. oil and gas industry is witnessing a spike in deals. Just earlier this month, Exxon Mobil concluded a deal to buy Texas-based Pioneer Natural Resources for $59.5 billion.

ExxonMobil's acquisition of Pioneer's holdings in the Permian Basin, with over 2 billion barrels of proven reserves, will double its crude oil production from that region, the company says.

Experts argue that the consolidation and operational expansion of the energy companies displays the industry's enduring commitment to oil and gas extraction, at least in the medium term, and might complicate global net-zero efforts.

In its 2023 climate change resilience report, Chevron said it aspires to reach net zero upstream emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 2050.