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The move expands ConocoPhillips’ footprint in domestic shale fields from Texas to North Dakota and hands the company reserves as far afield as Equatorial Guinea.

Jacobs is eyeing the industrial services industry and an area where applying technology can give him a competitive edge.

The tie-up is being viewed by officials as a brazen play loaded with red flags, not the least of which is creating a giant monopoly in an industry that had only recently gained a competitor.