The real predicament shadowing the Exxon-Mobil merger resides with the State Department, not with the Justice Department.

Until the Exxon-Mobil merger last year, Walter Arnheim was an oil executive with a fondness for opera.

Antitrust regulators in many countries will carefully examine the Exxon-Mobil merger, and some divestitures will no doubt be needed.

With the Exxon-Mobil merger, there are uncontroversial antitrust issues that the commission will handle with relative ease.

So, if the Justice Department decides to challenge the Exxon-Mobil merger on antitrust grounds, it might find the target less tempting than Rockefeller's Standard Oil.

Q. Are the announcements of the Exxon-Mobil merger and Boeing's production cutbacks examples of that?

The exploration and drilling operations of an Exxon-Mobil merger would not necessarily present antitrust problems because competition is brisk.

The motivations for the Exxon-Mobil merger reflected the industry forces.

But in the Exxon-Mobil merger, most of the details were worked out between the chief executives, not bankers.

The disclosure came as the commission approved the Exxon-Mobil merger.