Liam Denning, Columnist

Exxon and Noble Stoke Permian Passions

Two deals help address nagging issues for the acquirers.

January 17, 2017 at 6:40 PM UTC

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

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In case you hadn't heard, the Permian is so hot right now. Two big deals have been announced in this shale nirvana in the past 24 hours, including one by a company you've almost certainly heard of: Exxon Mobil Corp.

It was actually beaten to the punch by Noble Energy Inc., which announced its $3.2 billion takeover of Clayton Williams Energy Inc. on Monday night. As analysts were questioning Noble's management on a Tuesday morning call, Exxon said it had cut a deal for assets owned by the Bass family of Fort Worth, Texas for up to $6.6 billion. Both targets focus on the Delaware basin, a particularly oily patch within the wider Permian shale.