(Bloomberg) – Exxon Mobil Corp. is looking for opportunities to acquire smaller rivals, a year after buying Pioneer Natural Resources Co. for $60 billion, Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said.
ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods
The Texas oil giant wants to acquire companies to create value through combining assets and expertise rather than simply buying to get bigger, Woods said on a call with reporters.
“It’s a high bar, but frankly, as we’ve demonstrated with Pioneer, it can work and you really deliver on this equation of one plus one equaling more than three,” he said. “There are opportunities out there for us, frankly still, and we’re working to see if we can’t bring some of those to fruition.”
This year’s oil price drop is putting pressure on producers to maintain the buybacks and dividends they ramped up since posting record profits in 2022. bp Plc, under pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management, has frequently been cited as a target for another supermajor.
Woods did not specify any targets or types of assets Exxon wanted to buy. But he was clear that any deal must “drive more value for the combined shareholders, more value than either company on its own can achieve.” This contrasts with recent deals in the sector which are a “consolidation of volumes play,” he said.
“You won’t actually see us acquire a company and then fire a bunch of people,” Woods said. “If you look at what we did with Pioneer, we really brought the best of both organizations together.”
