ExxonMobil close to buying Pioneer for $60 billion – Kommersant

ExxonMobil may close one of the largest deals in the company’s history in the coming days. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) citing its own sources, the company is close to acquiring another American oil and gas company – Pioneer Natural Resources. The deal could be worth approximately $60 billion and would be the company’s largest deal since Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999, which was valued at $80.3 billion.

ExxonMobil at the end of 2022 received a record net profit for itself and all Western oil companies in the amount of $55.7 billion. Having received a huge reserve of cash, the company not only increased dividends to shareholders and announced a large-scale share buyback program, but also began to explore options for further business expansion, in particular in the field shale fields in West Texas. The acquisition of Pioneer would make ExxonMobil the dominant player in the Permian Basin. And given the difference in market capitalization of the two companies ($436 billion vs. $50 billion) and significant cash reserves, the deal should be easy for the company to implement. However, WSJ sources note, there remains a possibility that the parties will abandon the deal at the last moment.

Kirill Sarkhanyants