Exxon executive joins Elliott Group seeking to acquire Citgo Petroleum

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil board director Gregory Goff recently joined a startup backed by Elliott Investment Management that is seeking control of Venezuelan-owned oil refinery Citgo Petroleum.

Citgo and Exxon are rivals in the fuels and lubricants business. Exxon is the third-largest U.S. oil refiner by capacity, and Citgo is the seventh-largest.

Goff, who joined Exxon in 2021 as part of a list of dissident executives, was identified Friday as the CEO of Amber Energy, a subsidiary of Elliott, in a statement announcing his selection as the winning bidder in a judicial auction of the shares parent company Citgo. PDV Holding.

Exxon had no immediate comment on Goff’s status at the company. The company’s board webpage lists Goff as chairman of its audit committee and a member of its executive and finance committees.

A spokesman for Amber Energy declined to comment.

Amber’s offer brings an enterprise value of up to $7.28 billion to the Houston oil refiner. Shares of parent Citgo whose sole asset is the refiner are being auctioned to repay up to $21.3 billion in claims against Venezuela and state oil company PDVSA for expropriations and defaults.

Citgo owns refineries in Texas, Louisiana and Illinois, an extensive network of fuel storage and pipelines and 4,200 independent dealers. It had a net profit in 2023 of $2 billion.

Amber’s disclosure of the Citgo bid describes Goff as having 40 years of experience in energy and energy-related businesses. It does not list his tenure at Exxon, but describes him as the former president and CEO of Andeavor Oil Refinery and CEO of Claire Technologies Inc.

He was a vice president at Marathon Petroleum until 2019. Elliott made billions of dollars after taking a stake in Marathon and urging it to improve operations and divest parts of its business. Marathon sold its Speedway fuel retail business to 7-Eleven for $21 billion in 2021.

(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)