HOUSTON (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil CEO Gregory Goff recently joined a newly formed company backed by Elliott Investment Management that is seeking to take control of Venezuelan-owned oil refiner Citgo Petroleum.
Citgo and Exxon are rivals in motor fuels and lubricants. Exxon is the third largest oil refiner in the US by capacity and Citgo the seventh.
Goff, who joined Exxon in 2021 as part of a dissident list of directors, was identified Friday as CEO of Amber Energy, a subsidiary of Elliott, in a statement announcing the selection as the successful bidder in a U.S. judicial stock auction in Citgo parent company. PDV Holding.
Exxon had no immediate comment on Goff’s status with the company. The company’s board of directors webpage lists Goff as chairman of the audit committee and member of the executive and finance committees.
A spokesperson for Amber Energy declined to comment.
Amber’s offer provides an enterprise value of up to $7.28 billion for the Houston-based oil refiner. Shares of a Citgo parent company whose only asset is the refinery are being auctioned to repay up to $21.3 billion in claims against Venezuela and state oil company PDVSA over expropriations and debt defaults.
Citgo owns refineries in Texas, Louisiana and Illinois, an extensive fuel storage and pipeline network, and 4,200 independent retailers. It had a net profit of $2 billion in 2023.
Amber’s Citgo offer disclosure details that Goff has 40 years of experience in energy and energy-related businesses. It does not mention his tenure at Exxon, but does describe him as former chairman and CEO of oil refiner Andeavor and CEO of Claire Technologies Inc.
He was vice chairman at Marathon Petroleum until 2019. Elliott made billions of dollars after taking a stake in Marathon and pushing the company to improve operations and divest parts of its business. Marathon sold its Speedway fuel division to 7-Eleven in 2021 for $21 billion.
(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
