Scott Sheffield, the founder and former CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, has accused ExxonMobil of orchestrating a "smear campaign" against him to prevent him from joining its board of directors. Sheffield claims Exxon, along with regulators, "orchestrated" allegations of OPEC collusion against him. This accusation comes after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initially barred Sheffield from joining Exxon's board as part of its approval of Exxon's $64.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer.
The FTC's initial complaint, issued on May 1, 2024, alleged that Sheffield had campaigned to organize anticompetitive coordinated output reductions among U.S. crude oil producers and with OPEC+. This complaint, which did not allege that the acquisition itself would significantly increase market concentration, led to a consent order that prevented Sheffield from serving on Exxon's board or in any advisory capacity, and also barred other Pioneer employees from Exxon's board for five years. Exxon had contractually agreed to appoint Sheffield to its board as part of the merger agreement.
However, the situation changed dramatically on July 17, 2025, when a reconstituted FTC voted 3-0 to reopen and set aside the consent order, concluding that the original complaint "failed to plead any antitrust law violation." This decision nullified the ban on Sheffield and other Pioneer employees. Despite being cleared, Sheffield stated he was no longer interested in the board seat "because of actions they have taken," calling the original order "rushed, baseless and illegal." He emphasized that he remains one of Exxon's largest individual shareholders.
Sheffield had previously filed a request with the FTC on May 28, 2024, asking the agency to vacate its proposed consent order for the Exxon-Pioneer merger, asserting that federal regulators had mischaracterized facts and wrongly vilified him. Pioneer also expressed surprise and disagreement with the FTC's allegations at the time, stating they reflected a fundamental misunderstanding of the oil markets and misread Sheffield's actions. The acquisition, valued at approximately $64.5 billion, closed on May 3, 2024.
