Chevron completes Hess acquisition after defeating Exxon in dispute over Guyana oil assets

What caught my attention is The International Chamber of Commerce ruled in Chevron's favor in a dispute with Exxon over Hess' Guyana oil assets

The dispute had created significant uncertainty for Chevron, weighing on its stock performance

Nevertheless, The ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce is a huge win for Chevron, which had sought to buy Hess to gain access to the vast Guyana oil reserves. "We have maintained from the beginning that this is the outcome that we expected

It's a straightforward interpretation of contract language, and we're very pleased that the transaction has now closed," said Chevron CEO Mike Wirth on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Friday

Additionally, "Good for Chevron and also good for the industry because it affirms a long-standing practice that asset level rights of refusal don't apply in corporate level M&A transactions

Furthermore, "Exxon CEO Darren Woods first revealed the dispute's outcome to CNBC's Becky Quick earlier Friday (this bears monitoring), given current economic conditions

Exxon stock, meanwhile, fell more than 3%. "We disagree with the ICC panel's interpretation but respect the arbitration and dispute resolution cess," Exxon said in a statement Friday, in today's market environment

The dispute had created significant uncertainty over whether Chevron's acquisition of Hess would close, weighing on Chevron's stock performance

Nevertheless, The transaction would have failed if Exxon had prevailed

Exxon and China National Offshore Oil Corp (noteworthy indeed)

Had filed an arbitration case with the ICC, claiming a right of first refusal over Hess' assets in the Stabroek Block, an oil development off the coast of Guyana

However, Conversely, "We welcome Chevron to the venture and look forward to continued industry-leading performance and value creation in Guyana for all parties involved," Exxon said, in today's financial world

As the combination moves ahead, Wirth told CNBC said he anticipates "some" headcount reductions

Chevron had already been reducing staff, after announcing in February plans to lay off 15% to 20% of its workforce in an effort to cut costs. "We'll integrate the two companies

As is typical in a deal this, there are some overlaps, and so you'll see some reductions," Wirth said (an important development). "But our industry is many others where you have to continually look to be efficient, and nology evolves

In contrast, It's a competitive world out there. "Don’t miss these insights from CNBC Analysts raise Nvidia price targets after Trump's China chip decision