Guyana arbitration scheduled for 2025: Chevron, Hess

Chevron and Hess said an arbitration hearing over a disputed stake in a giant offshore oil find in Guyana has been scheduled for next year, effectively delaying their proposed $53bn merger.

The future of the stake, which is the crown jewel of Chevron's takeover of the US independent Hess, has been thrown into uncertainty after ExxonMobil argued it has a right of first refusal to Hess' stake. The matter has been referred to international arbitration in Paris and a hearing has been scheduled for May next year, with a decision expected over the following three months.

"Chevron and Hess had expected and requested that this hearing be held earlier, but the arbitrators' common schedules did not make this possible," the two companies said in a joint statement.

The companies said they remain confident that the arbitration will confirm a right of first refusal does not apply to their merger.

By Stephen Cunningham