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Phillips 66’s $180 Billion Mega-Merger Almost Happened—The Oil Deal That Could Have Reshaped U.S. Refining!

Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) reportedly held merger discussions earlier in 2026 over a combination that could have created an energy company worth roughly $180 billion. The talks ultimately ended without a transaction, with potential antitrust complications reportedly among the major obstacles given the limited number of large standalone U.S. refiners. Yet the scale of the proposed deal makes the discussions significant even after their collapse. Phillips 66 has spent several years reshaping its refining operations, expanding Midstream, improving commercial capabilities, lowering costs and strengthening its balance sheet. Its latest quarter showed that this transformation is translating into stronger operating performance just as global refining capacity remains constrained. A Marathon combination could therefore have joined two major downstream platforms at a particularly consequential moment for the industry.