Washington, D.C. — The American Economic Liberties Project submitted two formal comments to the Federal Trade Commission this week urging the agency to reject petitions from former oil executives Scott Sheffield and John Hess that would allow ExxonMobil and Chevron to place these price collusion-prone executives on their corporate boards.

“Both John Hess and Scott Sheffield have demonstrated a long-standing willingness to align US oil production with foreign cartels like OPEC, which threatens to hike gas prices for American consumers,” said Laurel Kilgour, Research Manager at the American Economic Liberties Project. “The FTC was right to prohibit Chevron and Exxon from elevating these individuals into positions that would facilitate coordination in an already partially-rigged market. Weakening those orders now would send exactly the wrong signal to an industry with a history of anti-competitive behavior — and would likely come at the expense of every day Americans already dealing with gas prices that have risen since Inauguration Day.” 

The first comment supports the FTC’s decision to bar ExxonMobil from appointing Scott Sheffield to its board after acquiring Pioneer Natural Resources. The FTC’s complaint documented Mr. Sheffield’s ongoing private relationships with senior OPEC officials and his explicit statements discouraging production growth in favor of price discipline. It also noted that Sheffield’s concurrent service on the board of a competitor, The Williams Companies, raised additional concerns under Section 8 of the Clayton Act. Even if Mr. Sheffield were to resign from Williams, elevating him to ExxonMobil’s board would still threaten competition because of the competitively sensitive information he would be able to share with Exxon– a risk the FTC has explained to courts in the context of other board interlocks. The comment urges the Commission not only to maintain the existing prohibition but to consider further investigation into the potential collusive conduct detailed in the FTC’s complaint.

In its second comment on the Chevron/Hess matter, Economic Liberties urges the FTC to uphold its order preventing Chevron from placing John Hess on its board of directors following its acquisition of Hess Corporation. The FTC had previously found that Mr. Hess’ documented communications with OPEC and OPEC+ officials—combined with his repeated public endorsements of supply restrictions and “stability”—posed a serious risk of facilitating coordination in the crude oil market. The comment underscores that even non-voting board members can transmit sensitive information, and that Mr. Hess’s history, including Hess Corporation’s sponsorship of an OPEC summit, made this risk more than theoretical.

The FTC initiated both actions under not only Section 7 of the Clayton Act, but also Section 5 of the FTC Act, which reaches unilateral invitations to collude. An individual who unsuccessfully attempted collusion in the past might well repeat that behavior successfully, especially if given a much larger platform for a subsequent attempt. The FTC conditioned its decisions not to challenge ExxonMobil’s acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources or Chevron’s acquisition of Hess Corporation on preventing those companies from putting collusive executives on their boards. Reopening these decisions would threaten competition.

Read the full amicus brief here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.