Chevron warns Exxon and Cnooc could scupper $53bn Hess deal
Myles McCormick in Houston
Chevron has warned that its $53bn acquisition of Hess could be thwarted by rival oil groups ExxonMobil and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, which are asserting their right to pre-empt its purchase of a stake in a massive oil project off the coast of Guyana.
In a regulatory filing on Monday Chevron said it had been “engaged in discussions” with Exxon and Cnooc “regarding a right of first refusal provision in the joint operating agreement for the Stabroek Block”. Both companies hold stakes in the oil rich project off the coast of the South American nation, which has been the focal point of the deal.
If the talks did not “result in an acceptable resolution” Chevron said the merger would not close. Exxon confirmed talks were ongoing with Chevron and Hess and said the company “owe[d] it to our investors and partners to consider our pre-emption rights”.
Donald Trump prosecutor seeks gag order ahead of ‘hush money’ trial
Joe Miller in New York
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg has asked a court to prevent Donald Trump from publicly disparaging jurors, witnesses, lawyers or court staff in the lead-up to his criminal trial next month.
In a motion filed on Monday, Bragg’s team argued that Trump had a “long history of making public and inflammatory remarks about the participants in various judicial proceedings against him” and said that his attacks on the district attorney over the past year — often on his social media site Truth Social — had already led to “hundreds of threats” against the office.
In one instance last year, “the office received a letter addressed to the district attorney containing a small amount of white powder and a note stating: ‘Alvin: I’m going to kill you’”, lawyers from the DA’s office wrote.
Read more here.
US oil and gas lobby challenges Biden LNG pause
Myles McCormick in Houston
American oil and gas lobby groups have hit back against Joe Biden’s freeze on new permits for LNG infrastructure, lodging a legal filing that urges the Department of Energy to reconsider the suspension.
The American Petroleum Institute and six other industry bodies on Monday submitted an “application for rehearing” with the DoE, arguing that the pause on new permits was “unlawful and ill-advised”.
The move tees up a potential lawsuit over the Biden administration’s decision last month to suspend new export licenses as it assesses the environmental, security and cost implications of the rapid buildout of LNG infrastructure.