The American groups CHEVERON and TEXACO agreed in view of a merger through the acquisition of TEXACO by CHEVRON for the equivalent of USD 37 million. The new group, named CHEVERON TEXACO, will rival TOTALFINAELF for the fourth place in world ranking with a turnover of USD 72.3 billion, a daily production of 2.7 million barrels of oil and gas and a workforce of around 50,000 employees. The two groups had already tried to merger last year. See EI of 7 June 2000.