Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has represented Hess in its landmark victory against ExxonMobil and CNOOC (the Chinese State-owned oil and gas company) in one of the most significant arbitrations in recent years.

This decisive victory cleared the final hurdle to Chevron’s $53 billion acquisition of Hess – a transformative deal reshaping the global energy landscape and one of the largest and most geopolitically significant M&A transactions in decades.

As the Wall Street Journal put it, Hess’s win “resolves an often tense and long-running dispute between the two largest descendants of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil monopoly over one of the world's most coveted oil projects.” The confidential arbitration, which had been pending for over 20 months, was the final obstacle to the Chevron-Hess merger.

The case concerned the globally strategic and immensely valuable Stabroek block offshore Guyana. This ‘once in a generation’ discovery is the crown jewel in Hess’s assets. The merger was announced in October 2023, following which Exxon and CNOOC contended that contractual pre-emption rights were implicated by the transaction.

The merger and related proceedings have been the subject of intense public scrutiny, extensively covered in the financial press, closely followed by investors and analysts, and giving rise to billions of dollars in hedge fund positions.

The Debevoise team representing Hess was led by partners Lord Peter Goldsmith KC, Catherine Amirfar and Samantha Rowe, and included counsels Carl Micarelli and Shreya Aren, associates Christel Tham, Mike Pizzi, Tatiana August-Schmidt, Diana Moise, Allison Perlin and Elizabeth Kelley, and litigation assistants Prasheela Vara and Mary Grace McEvoy. The team was also supported by counsels Alexandre Bisch and Gavin Chesney, associates Fanny Gauthier, Arundathi Venkataraman, Sophie Michalski and Darius Ng.