By Sabrina Valle
(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is expected to greenlight U.S. oil producer Chevron (NYSE:)’s purchase of Hess (NYSE:) as soon as this week, two people familiar with the matter said, leaving Exxon Mobil (NYSE:)’s challenge to the $53 billion deal as its final hurdle.
The proposed merger was first announced last October, and the FTC sent a second information request to Chevron two months later. Uncertainty over the deal’s closing has knocked Chevron shares down 1% this year compared to a 6.5% increase in energy share fund XLE (NYSE:) .
Exxon and CNOOC (NYSE:) Ltd, Hess’s partners in a Guyana joint venture, are challenging the deal by claiming a right of first refusal to any sale of Hess’s Guyana assets, the prize in the proposed merger.
