CrownRock LP has been preparing to explore a sale deal that could be valued at more than $10 billion, including debt, in what could be the largest deal for a US oil and gas producer in at least three years.

Led by Texas billionaire Timothy Dunn, CrownRock has initiated discussions with investment banks to hire advisors for the sale process, set to begin in early 2024.

The potential sale of CrownRock could end up being the largest in the U.S. oil and gas producing patch since ConocoPhillips’ all-stock deal for Concho Resources in 2020, which valued the latter at $13.3 billion, including debt.

The company is expected to reach out to major oil corporations such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron, both of whom have the financial capacity to consider acquiring CrownRock. However, no deal has been finalized at this point.

The company owns approximately 86,000 net acres in the northern part of the Midland basin, which is part of the Permian in Texas.

Most of CrownRock is owned by buyout firms, led by Lime Rock Partners, which took a 60% stake when it helped launch the company in 2007.

CrownRock is led by Dunn, who – through his family’s CrownQuest Operating LLC – rolled his previous oil and gas assets into the partnership with Lime Rock.