It's also the first time either company has been so explicit about their disagreement over how Exxon is interpreting its joint agreement with Hess and Chinese oil giant CNOOC Ltd. to produce oil off the coast of the South American nation, according to the article. "We're absolutely confident that within this contract, we have pre-emption rights, and we have filed for arbitration to make sure that we can secure those pre-emption rights… The pre-emption rights are to give us the opportunity to look at the value, which we can then match should we choose to do so," Exxon's senior vice president Neil Chapman had said at the time, adding that arbitration of this nature typically takes "five to six months". Bloomberg had also said in its article that if Exxon succeeds in blocking the takeover, Hess would be required to pay Chevron a $1.7 billion break-up fee. However, both Hess and Chevron have declared their intention to see the deal through. (G-3)