Chevron Muscles Into Hottest Oil Patch With $53 Billion Purchase

The crown jewel of Chevron Corp.’s $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corp. is a piece of larger rival Exxon Mobil Corp.’sprized asset — 11 billion barrels of oil off the coast of South America.

Chevron is gaining a 30% stake in Guyana’s Stabroek Block, home to the world’s largest crude discovery of the past decade and one of its most profitable. The purchase helps the California oil giant narrow the gap with its larger US rival, which owns 45% of the block, operates the project and made its first discovery in 2015. China’s CNOOC Ltd. owns the remaining 25%. ...