ExxonMobil will only consider M&A if it adds value says CEO
The market for upstream acquisitions is good with low asset values but chief executive Rex Tillerson said the company's criteria was unchanged
ExxonMobil will keep an eye on the market for upstream acquisitions at this time of low asset values but its criteria have not changed, its chief executive Rex Tillerson told the Oil & Money conference in London 7 October. “We are looking for quality assets in terms of people and resources, where we can add value,” he said. Apart from the Anglo-Dutch major Shell bidding for UK BG, there has been little acquisition activity, compared with the price crash at the end of the 90s. It takes a buyer or a seller “a while to sort out the value of a business,” Tillerson said. Owning midstream assets would only be important to ExxonMobil if that would improve the security of its supply, he said. “W
Also in this section
22 April 2026
The failure of OMV Petrom’s keenly watched exploration campaign at Bulgaria’s Han Asparuh block highlights the Black Sea’s uneven track record, despite major successes like Neptun Deep and Sakarya
22 April 2026
Sustained strikes on ports, terminals and refineries are testing the resilience of Russia’s oil export system, yet rapid repairs, rerouting and surging prices mean the campaign has yet to deliver a decisive blow
21 April 2026
After overcoming a COVID-induced demand collapse with several years of successful market management, geopolitical events have conspired to provide the pact’s biggest test to date
21 April 2026
The regime’s policy of using nuclear ambiguity as a deterrent may have failed but it has realised it has other cards to play, while its neighbours are reappraising their approach to security






