Chevron CFO says has no interest in "small" M&A

17 November 2009 @ 12:21 pm EDT

Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company, would only seek mergers and acquisitions that add scale and fit strategically with the rest of the company, its chief financial officer said on Tuesday.

Motorists are shown at gas pumps at a Chevron gasoline station in Burbank, California July 31, 2009. Chevron Corp posted a 71 percent drop in profit on weaker energy prices and fuel demand due to the economic slump, but it raised estimated 2009 output and said cost cuts were on track.

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"We're not looking for small things because that really wouldn't move the needle on a company like Chevron," CFO Pat Yarrington told the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2009 Energy Conference in New York, which was broadcast over the Web.

"It's an arrow in our quiver," she added. "And we tend to keep balance sheet strength that would allow us to take on opportunities should they make themselves available."

Looking at oil and gas deal-making generally, Yarrington echoed the sentiments of other executives by noting the "bid and ask" spread on upstream assets had narrowed, with energy prices far more stable now than earlier in the year.

"You're getting much more of a true marketplace for assets, so I think you will see a lot more buying and selling of assets going forward," she said.

(Reporting by Braden Reddall; editing by John Wallace)

Chevron CFO says has no interest in "small" M&A

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