Hess and Chevron announced Monday they had cleared an extended anti-trust review by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), though they still need to settle arbitration over a dispute involving Exxon Mobil Corp. to complete the business combination. The FTC approved the merger after Chevron and Hess yielded to the U.S. competition agency's condition that the latter's CEO should not hold a board, advisory or representative position at Chevron. The FTC alleged that John Hess had talks with officials of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) about controlling petroleum production and that such a position at Chevron would give him a stronger platform to rally the industry on keeping barrels more expensive.