Exxon, Chevron Held Merger Talks Last Year : WSJ

(RTTNews) - The chief executive officers of Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) discussed about combining the oil giants after the pandemic shook the world last year. It could be among the largest corporate mergers ever, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The Journal described the negotiations between the companies as "preliminary" and not "ongoing" but could come back in the future."

Such a deal would reunite the two largest descendants of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil monopoly, which was broken up by U.S. regulators in 1911, the report said.

A combined company's market value could top $350 billion. Exxon has a market value of $190 billion, while Chevron's is $164 billion.