Chevron Corp. (IW 500/5) agreed to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in a $33 billion bet on the Permian shale-oil region and liquefied natural gas, intensifying a battle with Exxon Mobil Corp. to be America’s top energy company.
Chevron is making a double bet on what many in energy consider the future of Big Oil over the next decade. The deal adds acreage and production in the prolific Permian shale basin of West Texas and south-east New Mexico and also increases Chevron’s exposure to LNG at a time when natural gas is being viewed as the most favored transition fuel in the fight against climate change.
