Devon Energy 正通过一项价值 50 亿美元的协议扩大其在巴肯页岩油气田的影响力，该协议将收购 EnCap Investments 旗下 Grayson Mill Energy 的 Williston Basin 业务。这笔现金/股票交易将包括 32.5 亿美元现金和 17.5 亿美元股票。这笔交易将为 Devon 在 Williston 的业务增加 307,000 净英亩（70% 的工作权益）。预计到 2025 年，收购资产的产量将维持在约 100,000 桶油当量/天（55% 为石油）。

Devon 表示，此次收购还增加了 500 个总位置和 300 个高质量重复压裂候选地点，这些地点将有效地争夺公司投资组合中的资本。根据预估，Devon 在威利斯顿盆地将拥有长达 10 年的库存寿命，并以三个运营钻机的恒定开发速度运行。

作为交易的一部分，德文还将收购中游资产，包括 950 英里的威利斯顿盆地集输系统以及处置井和原油储存终端网络。

该运营商预计通过提高运营效率和营销协同效应实现每年平均高达 5000 万美元的现金流节省。

此次收购使得德文石油公司成为威利斯顿地区第四大石油生产商（以康菲石油公司和马拉松石油公司的总运营产量计算），而马拉松石油公司将位居 Chord Energy 和 Continental Resources 之后，位列第三。

Devon 总裁兼首席执行官 Rick Muncrief 表示：“收购 Grayson Mill 对 Devon 来说具有极好的战略意义，它使我们能够有效扩大石油生产和运营规模，同时获得大量经济实惠的钻井库存。”“此次交易还通过实现收益和自由现金流的可持续增长，在我们的财务框架内创造了直接价值，随着时间的推移，股东的分配将更高。”

该交易须遵守惯例条款和条件，预计将于 2024 年第三季度末完成，生效日期为 2024 年 6 月 1 日。

戴文将以 32.5 亿美元现金支付 50 亿美元的收购费用，并发行 3700 万股普通股，价值 17.5 亿美元。该公司计划通过现金和债务相结合的方式为收购价的现金部分提供资金。

Enverus Intelligence Research 首席分析师 Andrew Dittmar 表示：“这笔交易延续了买家在二叠纪盆地以外寻找可收购机会的趋势，这个市场正在日益整合。”“Rayson Mill 是剩余的最大的私人项目之一，很有可能被出售，剩余钻井地点约 500 个，日产量超过 100,000 桶油当量。”

“在剩余的私募股权支持的勘探与生产公司中，与大陆资源等真正私有的公司不同，格雷森米尔拥有的未开发总钻井地点数量最多。虽然德文郡仍有大量剩余的钻井机会，但该公司可能面临着越来越大的压力，需要达成协议以跟上那些迅速抢占剩余机会的同行的步伐，”他说。

格雷森米尔在威利斯顿的地位使 Devon 在北达科他州威廉姆斯县、麦肯齐县和芒特雷尔县的占有率大大提高，而其核心的邓恩县则没有。总体而言，这笔交易为 Devon 现有的 123,000 英亩土地增加了 307,000 英亩。

EnCap 于 2016 年对 Grayson Mill 进行了初始投资。过去几个月，该集团一直在考虑出售 Grayson Mill。

过去几年，格雷森米尔通过两次收购巩固了其在威利斯顿的地位。2021 年，该公司以 9 亿美元收购了挪威 Equinor 的巴肯资产。就在去年，该公司以 8.25 亿美元收购了 Ovintiv 的巴肯资产。

Devon Energy is expanding its footprint in the Bakken Shale play with its $5-billion agreement to acquire the Williston Basin business of EnCap Investments’ Grayson Mill Energy. The cash/stock deal will consist of $3.25 billion of cash and $1.75 billion of stock to the sellers. The deal adds 307,000 net acres (70% working interest) to Devon’s Williston position. Production from the acquired properties is expected to be maintained at approximately 100,000 BOE/D (55% oil) in 2025.

Devon said the acquisition also adds 500 gross locations and 300 high-quality refrac candidates that effectively compete for capital in the company’s portfolio. On a pro forma basis, Devon will possess an inventory life of up to 10 years in the Williston Basin at a constant development pace of three operated rigs.

As part of the deal, Devon will also be acquiring midstream assets in the form of 950 miles of Williston Basin gathering systems and a network of disposal wells and crude storage terminals.

The operator expects to realize up to $50 million in average annual cash flow savings from operating efficiencies and marketing synergies.

The purchase now makes Devon the fourth- largest producer in the Williston based on gross operated production when accounting for the combination of ConocoPhillips and Marathon oil, which will be third behind Chord Energy and Continental Resources.

“The acquisition of Grayson Mill is an excellent strategic fit for Devon that allows us to efficiently expand our oil production and operating scale while capturing a meaningful runway of highly economic drilling inventory,” said Rick Muncrief, Devon’s president and CEO. “This transaction also creates immediate value within our financial framework by delivering sustainable accretion to earnings and free cash flow that will result in higher distributions to shareholders over time.”

The transaction is subject to customary terms and conditions and is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2024, with an effective date of 1 June 2024.

Devon will fund the $5-billion acquisition with $3.25 billion of cash and issue 37 million shares of common stock valued at $1.75 billion. The company plans to finance the cash portion of the purchase price through a combination of cash on hand and debt.

“The deal continues a trend of buyers looking beyond the Permian to find buyable opportunities of scale in an increasingly consolidated market,” said Andrew Dittmar, principal analyst at Enverus Intelligence Research. “Grayson Mill was one the largest remaining private opportunities reasonably likely to come up for sale with around 500 remaining drilling locations and over 100,000 BOE/D production.

"Among remaining private equity-sponsored E&Ps, as opposed to truly private companies like Continental Resources, Grayson Mill had the largest count of remaining undeveloped gross drilling locations. While Devon still had a substantial runway of remaining drilling opportunities, pressure may have been mounting on the company to strike a deal to keep pace with peers that had been rapidly rolling up remaining opportunities,” he said.

Grayson Mill’s Williston position gives Devon a substantially larger footprint in Williams, McKenzie, and Mountrail Counties of North Dakota—outside of its core Dunn County holdings. Overall, the deal adds 307,000 acres to Devon’s existing 123,000-acre position.

EnCap made its initial investment in Grayson Mill in 2016. The group had been considering the sale of Grayson Mill for the past several months.

Grayson Mill bolstered its Williston position via a pair of acquisitions over the past few years. In 2021, it purchased the Bakken assets of Norway’s Equinor for $900 million. Just last year, the company acquired Ovintiv’s Bakken holdings for $825 million.