Chevron and Exxon discussed merger last year: reports

The CEOs of Chevron and ExxonMobil discussed the possibility last year of merging the two companies, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing unnamed people familiar with the talks.

The newspaper reported that Chevron CEO Michael Wirth and Exxon CEO Darren Woods spoke about the outlook after the Covid-19 pandemic began to negatively impact oil prices.

The talks do not continue and are described as tentative, according to the Journal. Representatives of the two companies declined to comment. The talks were later reported by Reuters.

A merger between Chevron and Exxon will be one of the largest in history, and the Department of Justice will likely be investigated by President Joe Biden. Both companies come from John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, which was broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911.

Chevron’s market capitalization is $ 164 billion, and Exxon’s is $ 189 billion, meaning the joint venture is worth $ 350 billion north. The combined company would be the second largest oil and gas company in the world, after Saudi Aramco.

Oil prices have recovered much of their losses since cratering in March, although they have remained slightly depressed amid slower-than-expected vaccination and concerns about the new coronavirus variants.

CNBC’s Pippa Stevens contributed to this report.