(Bloomberg) -- Hess Corp. expressed confidence in prevailing in arbitration brought by Exxon Mobil Corp. over a massive oil project that’s key to the $53 billion Chevron Corp. takeover. 

Exxon’s claim of right-of-first-refusal to Hess’ 30% stake in Guyana’s Stabroek block is “baseless” and “without merit,” Chief Executive Officer John Hess said at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. conference Tuesday. 

“We think it’s very clear that the words on paper in English law that there’s no right or refusal to be exercised,” Hess said. “We’re very confident that the merger is going to go through.”

The arbitration panel, which is taking place under rules designed by the International Chamber of Commerce, is due to decide the case in the third quarter. By then, it will have been almost two years since Hess accepted Chevron’s takeover offer.  

Exxon executives also expressed confidence in their case at an investor meeting last month. “We wrote these documents, we understood the intent of those documents,” CEO Darren Woods said on Dec. 11. 

The companies have exchanged “memorials,” or evidence and supporting statements, Hess said. 

“The three arbitrators that are in-place now have been very clear” that there will be a decision by September, he said. “And once that’s done, we’ll close our deal.”

In a wide-ranging conversation with Goldman analyst Neil Mehta, Hess said the incoming Trump administration should consider refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which Biden tapped to ease fuel prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended global markets.

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