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ConocoPhillips to buy Marathon Oil in $22.5 bln handle latest energy merger

Leading U.S. independent oil and gas manufacturer ConocoPhillips on Wednesday agreed to buy Marathon Oil for $ 22.5 billion, the current in a series of mega-deals in the energy market.

The U.S. oil and gas market has been riding a. combination wave over the last 2 years as companies aim to. strengthen reserves and produce economies of scale. Last year was. one of the most active, with some $250 billion in deals struck. The momentum has actually rollovered into this year as the stock market. continues to boom and as U.S. shale oil production scales new. records.

We're heading into a period of type of Shale 2.0, which is. more about using innovation and efficiencies, information analytics and. a few of the refrack capacity that allows us to extend some tier. one inventory, stated ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance.

The all-stock deal equates to $30.33 per Marathon share, a. premium of nearly 15% to the stock's Tuesday close, according to. estimations. The deal, that includes $5.4. billion of Marathon's debt, is expected to close in the fourth. quarter of 2024.

Shares of Marathon Oil increased 9% to $28.85, while. ConocoPhillips fell 3.8% to $115.10 in early morning trading.

The deal makes good sense operationally offered the property. overlap most meaningfully in the Eagle Ford and Bakken in L48,. Tudor, Pickering and Holt analyst Jeoffrey Lambujon said. Marathon Oil's international gas properties fit well with the. Conoco's global gas footprint, he included.

ConocoPhillips expects expense savings of $500 million within. the very first complete year after the closing of the deal. The. acquisition includes over 2 billion barrels of reserves to its. portfolio.

Marathon Oil has operations in the Bakken basin in North. Dakota, the Permian basin in West Texas and South Texas' Eagle. Ford basin - regions that are prime targets for manufacturers. looking to increase their inventory.

ConocoPhillips last quarter was the third biggest oil. and gas producer by volume in the Permian, the leading U.S. shale. oil field.

The deal follows Exxon Mobil's $60 billion. acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources that was announced in. October, and Chevron's proposed $53 billion merger with. Hess that was authorized by the latter's shareholders on Tuesday.

The combination activity in the industry has, nevertheless,. brought in increased antitrust analysis.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), nevertheless, recognizes. that oil is an international market and the offer represents a extremely,. really little portion of that international market, Lance stated.

The company's price quote of a closing late this year is. conservative, he said. The FTC has already kind of gotten over. that Rubicon with a few of the deals that have actually come over the last. couple of years.

ConocoPhillips likewise added that it would dispose of. almost $2 billion worth of assets.

The company also signified it would increase share buybacks to. $ 7 billion next year from this year's forecasted $5 billion and. dedicate to buying $20 billion of its shares over the three years. following the deal's closing.

(source: Reuters)