Oil giant Chevron on Monday agreed to bar Hess Chief Executive John Hess from joining its board after the Federal Trade Commission alleged he had colluded with overseas rivals to fix oil prices.
The FTC made the accusation in its proposed consent decree approving Chevron’s $53 billion acquisition of its smaller rival, Hess Corp. The collusion allegations echo those the FTC leveled against the former CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources earlier this year when it approved Exxon Mobil’s acquisition of that company.
Bloomberg first reported last week that Chevron would not appoint Hess to its board so the deal could be approved.
In its proposal, the FTC cited Hess’ participation in public meetings as well as private communications regarding oil supply with officials at OPEC, including OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo.
