Proactive Investors - Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX, ETR:CHV)’s US$53 billion takeover of Hess Corp (NYSE:NYSE:HES) should be stopped over fears gas prices could be hiked, senator Chuck Shumer has urged.
Schumer, who serves as senate majority leader, took to social media X to dispute the merger, which would see Chevron gain a larger footprint in the US and a stake in the Guyana discoveries held by rival Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM).
"The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) should side with consumers and pump the breaks on this deal," Schumer said on Sunday.
Such a deal would give big oil “more fuel to raise gas prices,” he added.
I’m sounding the alarm against yet another proposed Big Oil merger—a $53B deal between Chevron and HessIt 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
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) May 12, 2024
Proposals for the deal emerged in October when Chevron agreed to buy Hess, though Exxon has subsequently challenged the deal, arguing it should be able to refuse over the Guyana stake.
Schumer’s latest calls come after he led a group of 22 Democratic senators last November in arguing mega oil mergers should face more scrutiny.
“New market dynamics could result in price hikes for midstream customers, and such added costs are often passed downstream to retail customers,” the group wrote to the FTC.
A merger between Exxon and Pioneer was approved by the FTC despite the calls though, which follow long-running disputes from Democrat lawmakers against such deals.