Discussion surrounding a merger between the two oil giants are in the works, testing the waters for potentially the largest corporate mergers ever. While talk is only preliminary, it began shortly after the pandemic continued to worsen, causing serious financial difficulty for the oil and gas companies. A combined company’s market value could top $350 billion and would produce 7 million barrels of oil and gas a day, based on pre-pandemic levels, second only in both measures to Saudi Aramco. Obvious antitrust and regulatory challenges face this potential merger, especially with immense pressure building for a transition for clean energy. | Read more