Page 19 - AsianOil Week 01 2021

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in the UAE say they have already launched “a continued over the 2020-21 festive season, with
thorough and comprehensive investigation” Diamondback Energy announcing on Decem-
into the matter. ber 21 that it had struck a deal to acquire QEP
Resources. The all-stock transaction was valued
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping at around $2.2bn, including QEP’s net debt,
the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click which stood at $1.6bn as of September 30, 2020.
here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor. Diamondback is a pure play Permian
Basin-focused company, and the primary attrac-
MEOG: Iraqi budget, Iranian exploration tion of the deal is considered to be QEP’s assets in
The holiday period was dominated by the news the region’s Midland sub-basin. QEP’s Williston
that Iraq’s government has passed a budget Basin in North Dakota will be considered non- There is still
for 2021, despite issues relating to Kurdish oil core and will be used to generate cash flow or some uncertainty
exports remaining unresolved. Meanwhile, Iran sold off, depending on market conditions, the
has once again tasked domestic oil firms with companies said. The merger is anticipated to about whether
ramping up production, with a new raft of deals close in the first or second quarter of 2021.
handed out to local companies. Separately, Diamondback announced on Erbil will provide
While Baghdad has given the green light the same day that it had agreed to acquire all
to this year’s $103bn budget, there is still some leasehold interests and related assets of Guidon SOMO with the
uncertainty about whether or not Erbil will Operating in exchange for 10.63mn shares of its required volumes
provide the State Oil Marketing Organization common stock and $375mn in cash. That deal is
(SOMO) with the required 250,000 barrels per due to close by the end of February. of crude oil
day (bpd) of crude stipulated in that budget. Together, the QEP and Guidon deals will
Some sources are suggesting this may not hap- bring Diamondback’s total leasehold interests
pen, though KRG officials have said they are to over 276,000 net surface acres (1,117 square
ready to begin deliveries. km) in the Midland Basin. Across both the Dela-
With Iraqi finances on the edge of collapse, ware and Midland basins the company will have
the central bank has also devalued the dinar around 429,000 net acres (1,736 square km).
against the US dollar in a bid to maximise dinar The Diamondback deals follows several
revenues from dollar-denominated crude. other shale-focused mergers and acquisitions
In Iran, the state oil firm NIOC has awarded (M&As) that were unveiled in the second half
$1.2bn worth of deals through subsidiaries for of 2020 as operators increasingly saw consoli-
work at on- and offshore fields with the aim of dation as a means to navigate a market experi-
ramping up oil production. The award follows encing unprecedented challenges. Indeed, in
the nearly $1.8bn of contracts awarded to 14 an update on a separate deal, shareholders of
local companies in August for the same pur- Devon Energy and WPX Energy approved the
pose. Meanwhile, the country has continued to proposed merger between those two companies
emphasise drilling by completing a major drill- on December 30, with that transaction set to
ing programme in the prolific West Karoun oil close on January 7.
cluster. Other pending deals due to close in the
first quarter of 2021 include Pioneer Natural
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Resources’ acquisition of Parsley Energy and
the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click ConocoPhillips’ takeover of Concho Resources.
here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
NorthAmOil: Shale consolidation continues the North American oil and gas sector then please click
Consolidation of the US shale industry here for NewsBase’s NorthAmOil Monitor.™

Week 01 07•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P19