By Kelly Cloonan

The Federal Trade Commission has reopened and set aside the final consent orders for proposed acquisitions from Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

The FTC said Thursday it reopened an order involving Chevron's proposed acquisition of Hess, and another regarding Exxon Mobil's proposed purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources, after finding its initial complaints failed to plead any antitrust law violation and contained no allegations that such deals would be anticompetitive.

Under the final consent orders, approved before President Trump's inauguration in January, the FTC prohibited Chevron from nominating Hess Chief Executive John Hess to its board, and Exxon from nominating Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield to its board.

The initial complaint against Chevron alleged Hess made "supportive messaging" to representatives of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on their agenda to stabilize the oil market. Putting him on Chevron's board would thus boost the likelihood the company would align its production with OPEC's output decisions, the complaint said.

The complaint against Exxon, meanwhile, alleged Sheffield sought to coordinate oil output levels with other crude-oil producers, and putting him on the company's board would give him a larger platform for such coordination.

Chevron and Hess, and Sheffield, petitioned the FTC to reopen and modify their respective final consent orders in March.

In both cases, the FTC has concluded that maintaining restrictions on Hess and Sheffield's employment would damage its credibility and undermine its mission. Vacating the final order is therefore in the public interest, the FTC said.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 17, 2025 19:19 ET (23:19 GMT)

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