Provided by
Dow Jones
By Christopher M. Matthews, Emily Glazer and Cara Lombardo
The chief executives of Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. spoke last year about combining the oil giants, according to people familiar with the talks, testing the waters for what could be one of the largest corporate mergers ever.
Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth and Exxon CEO Darren Woods spoke shortly after the coronavirus pandemic took hold, decimating oil and gas demand and putting enormous financial strain on both companies, the people said. The discussions were described as preliminary and aren't ongoing but could come back in the future, the people said.