The $100-billion-plus wave of oil industry consolidation that swept through the Permian Basin of west Texas and southeast New Mexico in the second half of 2023 may have crested but is still showing momentum that will likely result in more deals over the remainder of this year. Need evidence? Look to February’s $50-billion combination of Diamondback Energy and rival Endeavor Energy Resources.
Endeavor began as a green-shoot sole-proprietorship in 1979 to drill its first well in Midland County, Texas. By 2016, the private company had transitioned into one of the region’s top horizontal well operators—completing over 1,100 gross operated horizontal wells and producing more than 400,000 gross operated barrels of oil equivalent per day at the time of the Diamondback deal.
The Diamondback/Endeavor marriage was the side salad in an otherwise grand buffet of deals that ran roughshod through the region over the past several months. Last October, ExxonMobil cut a deal to acquire Pioneer Natural Resources for around $60 billion.
