Could ExxonMobil Buy BP?
Imagine a world where the largest energy company in the world becomes even more massive by gobbling up one of the most notorious energy companies around. Got it? Okay, now prepare yourself because the rumors are swirling that such a thing could actually happen. Bloomberg is reporting that ExxonMobil, the largest energy company in the world, has plans to issue an $8 billion bond offering, the largest it has ever put out. Why? Well, that's where things get really interesting, because the Houston Business Journal is reporting that Irving-based Exxon could have plans to buy London-based British Petroleum.
Yeah. BP, the one with the oil spill.
We've got a call into Exxon to see what they have to say about that possible merger. If it's true this will be a huge deal for Houston. Exxon is the second largest energy industry employer with about 13,000 employees in the Houston-area. BP is the fifth largest energy industry employer with about 10,000 employees in the area, according to HBJ. As we've already seen with the Baker Hughes/Halliburton merger, layoffs and mergers almost always go hand in hand. There's no reason to think that Exxon and BP getting together would go down any differently.
But that's not all the news coming out of Exxon today. While the "merger" is still squarely in the rumor category, Exxon officially became the largest energy company yet to react to the rock-bottom oil prices (about $60 per barrel today) by announcing cutbacks. Specifically, this morning the company announced it was cutting capital spending by 12 percent because of the low crude oil prices. Exxon is by no means the first company to make this move, but it's a big deal because they are the supernova of the energy industry.
ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson came off as confident and totally not worried in his statement on the scaled-down investments:
Read more: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/news/2015/03/could_exxonmobil_buy_bp.php
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