ExxonMobil has completed the acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, leading to doubling the company’s Permian footprint and accelerating its net-zero emissions goals.
The merger of ExxonMobil and Pioneer creates an Unconventional business with the largest, high-return development potential in the Permian Basin, stated ExxonMobil.
Exxon Mobil Corporation and Pioneer Natural Resources jointly announced on October 2023, a definitive agreement for ExxonMobil to acquire Pioneer. The merger is an all-stock transaction valued at $59.5 billion, or $253 per share, based on ExxonMobil’s closing price on October 5, 2023.
Under the terms of the agreement, Pioneer shareholders received 2.3234 shares of ExxonMobil for each Pioneer share at closing. The implied total enterprise value of the transaction, including net debt, is approximately $64.5 billion.
Pioneer holds more than 850,000 net acres in the Midland Basin of West Texas, which will add to Exxon’s 570,000 net acres nearby. Together, the two companies will have an estimated 16 billion barrels of oil-equivalent (bboe) resources in the Permian Basin.
Exxon’s production from the Permian would more than double as a result of the acquisition, to 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (mmboe/d) and is expected to increase to approximately 2 mmboe/d in 2027.
“This premier, tier-one asset is a natural fit for our Permian portfolio and gives us a greater opportunity to deploy our technology and deliver operating and capital efficiency for long-term shareholder value,” said ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods.
“The combination of our two companies benefits this country’s energy security and economy, and also furthers society’s environmental ambitions as we move Pioneer’s 2050 net zero goal to a 2035 plan,” he added.
ExxonMobil plans to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions from its Permian unconventional operations by 2030. With the merger now complete, the company plans to leverage its Permian greenhouse gas reduction strategies to accelerate Pioneer’s Scope 1 and 2 net-zero emissions goal by 15 years.
Additionally, ExxonMobil will apply its industry-leading technologies for monitoring, measuring, and addressing fugitive methane to reduce the combined companies’ methane emissions. The company also aims to increase the use of recycled water in its Permian fracturing operations to over 90% by 2030, utilizing the combined operating capabilities and infrastructure.
