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Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) is looking at opportunities to buy other oil companies, after losing its prolonged arbitration dispute over Chevron’s $53B acquisition of Hess and a year after buying Pioneer Natural Resources for $60B, CEO Darren Woods said Friday on a call with reporters.
Exxon (NYSE:XOM) wants to acquire companies to create value through combining assets and expertise rather than simply buying to get bigger, Woods said.
The CEO did not specify any targets or types of assets Exxon (XOM) might buy, but said any deal must “drive more value for the combined shareholders, more value than either company on its own can achieve,” as opposed to recent deals in the oil sector which he called “consolidation plays” that do not create real value for investors.
“Frankly, we’re not interested in buying volume,” Woods said of buying companies just to add barrels to its list of reserves.
The Exxon (XOM) CEO also said the Trump administration should use trade talks with the European Union to fight tough new climate and human rights regulations that threaten U.S. companies with “bone-crushing penalties.”
Woods said the E.U.’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive threatens to entangle U.S. companies in bureaucracy, erode their global competitiveness, and run counter to President Trump’s deregulation agenda.
The regulation, due to be phased in from 2027, would require E.U. and non-E.U. companies with significant turnover in the bloc to ensure their supply chains do not harm the environment or
human rights.
Woods’ comments came as Exxon (XOM) shares turned lower Friday, -1.5%, after reporting Q2 earnings that beat analyst expectations but fell 23% from the year-earlier quarter in the wake of lower oil prices.