Chevron: The Rival That Now Owns Thirty Per Cent of GuyanaNarrow moat

ExxonMobil (XOM) — moat facet

ExxonMobil litigated for eighteen months to keep Chevron out of Guyana, lost, and now operates the block for it.

Chevron is the closest thing ExxonMobil has to a like-for-like competitor: an American integrated major with upstream, refining and chemicals, a similar dividend culture and a similar investor base. It is also, since July 2025, a thirty per cent partner in the best asset ExxonMobil owns, and it got there over ExxonMobil's objection.

ExxonMobil against Chevron, September 2026$361.1bnRevenue XOM$209.4bnRevenue CVX$32.8bnNet income XOM$20.6bnNet income CVXTrailing twelve months. Multiples almost identical: 21.4 times against 20.6.
ExxonMobil is 1.7 times the revenue at the same multiple — and Chevron now owns 30% of Stabroek.

The sizes are not close. ExxonMobil's trailing revenue is $361.06 billion, its net income $32.76 billion and its market value $652.60 billion1; Chevron's figures are $209.38 billion, $20.59 billion and $397.05 billion2. On the multiple, though, they are almost identical: 20.5 times trailing earnings3 against 19.44. The market is paying essentially the same price for a dollar of each company's earnings, which is a fair summary of how much the differences are thought to matter.

The Guyana episode is the sharpest thing that has happened between them. Hess held 30 per cent of the Stabroek block, which ExxonMobil operates with 45 per cent and CNOOC holds 255. When Chevron agreed to acquire Hess, ExxonMobil and CNOOC filed arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce claiming a right of first refusal over the Stabroek interest. Chevron and Hess argued that such rights do not apply to a corporate takeover. The arbitrator agreed, Chevron completed the $53 billion acquisition in July 2025, and ExxonMobil said it disagreed with the ruling but accepted it and welcomed Chevron as a Stabroek partner6.

What that reveals is worth more than the outcome. ExxonMobil was prepared to litigate against its closest American peer to prevent a competitor holding a non-operated minority in a block it already operates and controls. That is the clearest possible statement of how good it thinks Guyana is.

The partnership itself changes little operationally. ExxonMobil remains operator, sets the development sequence and earns the operator's position. What it changes is that thirty per cent of the cash flow from the asset now funds Chevron's dividend rather than Hess's shareholders.

Judge it on relative return on capital rather than relative size. ExxonMobil's corporate return on average capital employed was 9.3 per cent in 20257. If it cannot beat Chevron on that figure across a cycle, having the larger and lower-cost resource base will not have counted for anything.

Moat trajectory: Narrowing

Chevron completed the $53 billion Hess acquisition in July 2025 after beating ExxonMobil in arbitration, and now holds 30 per cent of the block ExxonMobil operates. ExxonMobil remains operator and keeps the larger interest, but thirty per cent of the cash flow from its best asset now funds a direct competitor's dividend.

The number that tests this moat
Third-party estimate
Trailing multiple against Chevron
20.5 times against 19.4, 23 September 2026

The market prices the two nearly alike. A widening premium for ExxonMobil would mean its Guyana operatorship is being valued above Chevron's 30% stake.

How it's calculated: Trailing price/earnings as published by stockanalysis.com for each company.
Source: stockanalysis.com market data, ExxonMobil and Chevron, 23 September 2026 ↗
References
  1. ReportedExxonMobil's trailing revenue is $361.06 billion, its net income $32.76 billion and its market value $652.60 billion; Chevron's figures are $209.38 billion, $20.59 billion and $397.05 billion.
    ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation (XOM) market data - share price, market capitalisation, trailing and forward price/earnings, trailing revenue and net income, earnings per share, dividend and yield, shares outstanding and the 52-week range. — 23 September 2026 · publ. 23 September 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedExxonMobil's trailing revenue is $361.06 billion, its net income $32.76 billion and its market value $652.60 billion; Chevron's figures are $209.38 billion, $20.59 billion and $397.05 billion.
    Chevron Corporation (CVX) market data - share price, market capitalisation, price/earnings, trailing revenue and net income, earnings per share and dividend yield. — 23 September 2026 · publ. 23 September 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedOn the multiple, though, they are almost identical: 20.5 times trailing earnings against 19.4.
    ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation (XOM) market data - share price, market capitalisation, trailing and forward price/earnings, trailing revenue and net income, earnings per share, dividend and yield, shares outstanding and the 52-week range. — 23 September 2026 · publ. 23 September 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedOn the multiple, though, they are almost identical: 20.5 times trailing earnings against 19.4.
    Chevron Corporation (CVX) market data - share price, market capitalisation, price/earnings, trailing revenue and net income, earnings per share and dividend yield. — 23 September 2026 · publ. 23 September 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedHess held 30 per cent of the Stabroek block, which ExxonMobil operates with 45 per cent and CNOOC holds 25.
    CNBC, 'Chevron defeats Exxon in dispute over Guyana oil assets, clearing path for Hess acquisition' — the arbitration over the right of first refusal on Hess's 30% interest in the Stabroek block, ExxonMobil's 45% operated interest and CNOOC's 25%, and the completion of Chevron's $53 billion acquisition of Hess. — July 2025 · publ. 18 July 2025 · source ↗
  6. ReportedThe arbitrator agreed, Chevron completed the $53 billion acquisition in July 2025, and ExxonMobil said it disagreed with the ruling but accepted it and welcomed Chevron as a Stabroek partner.
    CNBC, 'Chevron defeats Exxon in dispute over Guyana oil assets, clearing path for Hess acquisition' — the arbitration over the right of first refusal on Hess's 30% interest in the Stabroek block, ExxonMobil's 45% operated interest and CNOOC's 25%, and the completion of Chevron's $53 billion acquisition of Hess. — July 2025 · publ. 18 July 2025 · source ↗
  7. ReportedExxonMobil's corporate return on average capital employed was 9.3 per cent in 2025.
    Exxon Mobil Corporation Form 10-K for FY2025, Frequently Used Terms — the definitions and calculations of cash flow from operations and asset sales, capital employed, return on average capital employed, the earnings drivers (advantaged volume growth, advantaged assets, high-value products, base volume, structural cost savings, expenses, timing effects), and the full structural cost savings reconciliation against 2019. — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026