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Chevron shocked when Exxon declared arbitration over Guyana - CEO

Chevron was When Exxon Mobil filed for arbitration over, shocked Chevron's strategies to buy Hess's Guyana oilfield stake, Chevron CEO Michael Wirth said on Tuesday.

The dispute threatens to derail Chevron's $53 billion takeover of Hess. The 30% stake in the respected Exxon-operated Stabroek oilfield in Guyana is Hess's most important property.

Exxon states it has the right of first refusal for Hess's. stake. Chevron had actually remained in talks with Exxon over the matter,. Wirth said.

We were surprised when they, a number of weeks ago,. suddenly ended those discussions and publicly revealed ... they. had filed for arbitration, Wirth stated at the CERAWeek energy. conference in Houston.

On Monday, Exxon CEO Darren Woods told the. company applied for arbitration since conversations were not. Occurring with Chevron and Hess around the right of. rejection provision.

Those discussions needed to happen and hadn't been. happening, Woods said.

Woods said Exxon desired to have its right of. refusal

acknowledged

before it might pick its method for the Stabroek. block. An Exxon executive has said the arbitration could take

five to 6 months

.

Chevron had done extensive due diligence on the operating. agreement in between Exxon and Hess in Guyana and has comprehensive. experience in those kinds of arrangement worldwide, Wirth. stated.

Chevron is eagerly anticipating affirming its understanding of. the contract in the arbitration, he added.

On the other hand, Wirth said that Chevron had actually not performed its. growth project in Kazakhstan in addition to we expected.

The job has taken longer and cost more than prepared,. he said.

The growth will increase the Chevron-led consortium's. output at the Tengiz field to over 1 million barrels each day. from around 650,000 bpd now, he added, and would launch this. year and reach full capacity next year.

Chevron was on track to strike its oil output target of 1. million bpd in the Permian, the largest U.S. oilfield, by 2025,. he said.

(source: Reuters)