BP has started looking seriously at U.S. shale assets again, including Devon Energy’s Eagle Ford business, as CEO Meg O’Neill pushes the company back toward oil and gas growth.
BP entered the data room for Devon’s South Texas assets after it opened in late August, according to Reuters sources. One source said BP ultimately walked away from a deal.
Devon’s Eagle Ford position covers about 90,000 net acres and produced roughly 77,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the second quarter. TPH Research valued the assets at about $4.5 billion this week, although Reuters sources put the likely range closer to $3.5 billion to $4 billion.
BP already knows the neighborhood. Its BPX Energy unit produced about 545,000 boepd in the second quarter, including approximately 205,000 boepd from the Eagle Ford. BP is targeting more than 650,000 boepd from BPX by 2030.
Part of Devon’s Eagle Ford acreage was also held in a joint venture with BP until that partnership was dissolved last year.
The interest is notable because BP has spent much of the last 18 months selling assets, reducing debt and working toward a $20 billion divestment target. It had largely stayed out of the recent shale acquisition wave.
That appears to be changing under O’Neill. BP has entered data rooms for a small number of shale assets up for sale, Reuters reported, although access to the books does not mean a bid will follow.
BP earned $5.7 billion in underlying replacement cost profit in the second quarter, more than double its year-earlier result, after higher oil prices and stronger refining margins padded earnings.
Higher crude prices are also making U.S. assets more expensive. Oil climbed back above $100 last week as Middle East supply risks intensified, improving the economics for sellers just as buyers are trying not to overpay.
Devon is marketing both its Eagle Ford position and Powder River Basin acreage following its $58 billion merger with Coterra.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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