Texas-headquartered energy giant ExxonMobil and its partner, China’s CNOOC, have not secured a victory in arbitration proceedings over U.S.-based Hess Corporation’s sale of interests in assets off the coast of Guyana. This clears the key merger hurdle in Chevron’s path, enabling it to bring Hess’ upstream portfolio into its fold.

In the aftermath of the first offshore discovery in 2015, Guyana came into the limelight as the world’s fastest-growing oil region, thanks to the exploration success on the Stabroek block, covering 6.6 million acres or 26,800 square kilometers, which is operated by ExxonMobil (45% interest), with partners, Hess Guyana Exploration (30%) and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana (25%).