Oil, gas deal tracker: Upstream M&A gains steam with 2 megadeals in October

Dealmaking activity in the oil and gas sector opened hot in the fourth quarter of 2023, thanks to two blockbuster deals in October.

The combined value of whole-company and minority-stake deals for the fourth quarter was already at US$129.81 billion through Oct. 31, 2023, from just 25 transactions, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

The aggregate transaction value for the current quarter is already the highest in the last five years, easily dwarfing the US$28.83 billion in the same period in 2022 and the US$85.48 billion in the second quarter of 2019.

Asset transactions followed a similar trend, with 18 deals worth a combined US$3.59 billion in October 2023, compared with 21 deals valued at US$2.61 billion in October 2022.

Largest whole-company, minority-stake deals in October

Two megadeals valued at more than US$60 billion each stole the spotlight in October, putting a focus on the consolidation trend in the US onshore segment of the industry.

Exxon Mobil Corp. started first with an announcement to buy out shale giant Pioneer Natural Resources Co. in a deal with an enterprise value of US$65.75 billion. The transaction, expected to close in the first half of 2024, would more than double Exxon's Permian Basin footprint.

Chevron Corp. followed less than two weeks later with a US$60.13 billion deal to acquire US upstream company Hess Corp. The transaction would add billions of barrels of resources offshore Guyana and in the Bakken Shale to Chevron.

– Use our Transactions Statistics page to run a custom screen of M&A transactions. – Visit our M&A Replay page to view more data on other M&A deals.

Largest asset deal in October

The largest asset deal for the month was Civitas Resources Inc.'s purchase of oil-producing assets in the Midland basin of West Texas from Vencer Energy LLC for $2.11 billion.

Civitas expects the acquisition to add about 44,000 net acres in the Midland Basin, current production of approximately 62,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and about 400 gross development locations primarily in the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations.

S&P Global Commodity Insights produces content for distribution on S&P Capital IQ Pro.