Collapsed with OPEC. And therefore unworthy of joining the ExxonMobil board. Those made against Scott Sheffield by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US Antitrust Authority, are serious accusations, which could lead to an indictment, which, in order to give the green light to the merger between the first US oil company and Pioneer Natural Resources, set the conditional on the banning of the founder and CEO of the latter, in office until last December.
The 60 billion dollar deal will happen. But an ignominious curtain falls on the career of Sheffield – one of the most well-known and esteemed protagonists in the world of shale oil.
Kyle Mach, deputy director of the FTC’s competition division, comes down hard: “Mr. Sheffield’s past conduct makes it crystal clear why he shouldn’t even be anywhere near Exxon’s boardroom.”
Even harsher comments than those put in black and white in the FTC statement, which talks about the need to prevent Sheffield from «engaging in collusive activities that would potentially raise oil prices, leading American consumers and businesses to pay higher prices for petrol, diesel, heating oil and aviation fuel”.
The very language chosen to justify the ostracism towards Sheffield reinforces the doubt that it is a political maneuver with a populist flavour, in keeping with the pre-election period. In November we vote for the White House, prices at the pump are high and Joe Biden is short of remedies, given that he has already made extensive use of the sale of barrels from the SPR, the federal strategic reserve.
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2024-05-04 15:25:38