Scott Sheffield, the former CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, on Tuesday requested the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to vacate its order that barred his inclusion on Exxon Mobil's (XOM.N) board.
Sheffield also sought the dismissal of the proceeding without further action, according to comment filed by his legal counsel before the regulator.
The U.S. antitrust regulator had given its go-ahead to Exxon's $60 billion purchase of Pioneer earlier in May, but barred Sheffield from Exxon's board on allegations that he attempted to collude with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to raise oil prices.
"At no time did government officials and Mr. Sheffield exchange competitively sensitive information," according to Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Sheffield's counsel commenting on his behalf.
Sheffield retired as Pioneer's CEO on Dec. 31, but continued to serve on its board and had been due to take a seat on Exxon's board when the acquisition deal closed. Exxon closed its purchase of Pioneer on May 3.
Pioneer had said at the time of the consent agreement that it disagreed with the FTC but would not get in the way of the deal closing.
"FTC is wrong to imply that I ever engaged in, promoted or even suggested any form of anti-competitive behavior," Sheffield said on Tuesday.
Sheffield was a regular speaker at energy investor and industry conferences. His pronouncements on OPEC production cuts and oil price trends were widely quoted.
Exxon declined to comment, while the FTC did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
