Exxon Director Joins Elliott-Backed Company to Acquire Citgo

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) board director Gregory Goff has recently joined a newly formed company backed by Elliott Investment Management, aiming to acquire control of Venezuela-owned oil refiner Citgo Petroleum.

Citgo and Exxon are competitors in the motor fuels and lubricants sectors, with Exxon being the third-largest U.S. oil refiner by capacity and Citgo ranking seventh.

Goff, who became part of Exxon’s board in 2021 through a dissident slate of directors, was identified as the CEO of Amber Energy, an Elliott affiliate, following successful bidding in a U.S. court auction for shares in Citgo parent PDV Holding.

Exxon did not provide immediate comments regarding Goff’s position, although its board webpage lists him as the audit committee chairman and a member of the executive and finance committees.

A spokesperson for Amber Energy declined to comment further.

Amber’s bid has valued the Houston-based oil refiner at up to $7.28 billion. The shares of Citgo’s parent company, which has Citgo as its only asset, are being auctioned to address claims of up to $21.3 billion related to expropriations and debt defaults by Venezuela and state oil firm PDVSA.

Citgo operates refineries in Texas, Louisiana, and Illinois, boasts a large fuel storage and pipeline network, and supports 4,200 independent retailers, reporting a net profit of $2 billion in 2023.

The announcement of Amber’s Citgo bid states that Goff possesses 40 years of experience in the energy sector, but it does not reference his time at Exxon. His past roles include former chairman and CEO of oil refiner Andeavor and CEO of Claire Technologies Inc.

He also served as vice chairman at Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) until 2019. Elliott previously made significant profits by investing in Marathon and urging operational improvements, including the $21 billion sale of Marathon’s Speedway retail fuel business to 7-Eleven in 2021.