US oil and gas mergers continue at furious pace in second quarter, says Enverus

By Gary McWilliams

HOUSTON (Reuters) – U.S. oil and gas patch deals continued to heat up in the second quarter, surpassing $30 billion, with large dollar deals pushing up values, according to data released on Tuesday by the research firm Enverus power supply.

Blockbuster mergers, such as ConocoPhillips’ $22.5 billion bid for Marathon Oil, remain a mainstay even as U.S. lawmakers call on regulators to “pull the brakes” on merger approvals.

The latest round of deals began last fall with Exxon Mobil’s $60 billion bid for Pioneer Natural and has spread across the U.S. energy industry, from oil and gas producers in Texas and North Dakota to oil and gas operators. energy pipelines.

There were 18 oil and gas production deals with disclosed prices totaling $30.29 billion, up from 25 deals valued at $24.4 billion in the same quarter last year, said Andrew Dittmar, head of mergers and acquisitions research. from Enverus.

“Pressure has increased on companies like ConocoPhillips and Devon Energy, which previously remained out of the market, to keep pace with their peers and grow at scale,” Dittmar said.

The value of the deals, however, fell from a record $51 billion in the first quarter, according to data from Enverus.

Conoco’s proposed acquisition of Marathon Oil represented the majority of last quarter’s total deal. Devon Energy stepped up the pace this month with its $5 billion bid for shale oil producer Grayson Mills.

The average price per undeveloped drilling site in this year’s oil production mixes rose to $3.2 million from an average of $1.9 million in 2023, Enverus data showed.

Oil and gas deals valued at less than $1 billion have been hurt by a lack of capital and changing investment objectives by private equity investors, according to mergers and acquisitions advisory firm Petrie Partners.

Among the second-quarter deals: SM Energy agreed to buy XCL Resources for $2.55 billion, Crescent Energy offered $2.1 billion for SilverBow Resources and Matador Resources offered $1.9 billion for Ameredev II .

The Federal Trade Commission has not blocked any recent oil mergers, but is reviewing deals by ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, Chesapeake Energy and Diamondback Energy.

(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Marguerita Choy)