Exxon Plays Hardball With Chevron Over Guyana’s Oil Riches (1)

It’s rare for disputes between any of the world’s supermajor oil companies to spill out in public. It’s even rarer that one could end up costing $53 billion.

But the oil riches beneath Guyana’s coastal waters are so valuable that Exxon Mobil Corp. is willing to battle over the legal intricacies of a contract signed a decade ago to keep the prize mostly to itself — and away from top rival Chevron Corp.

The stakes in the fight — which has the potential to scuttle Chevron’s takeover of Hess Corp.— couldn’t be much higher.

Exxon said this week ...