据管道&天然气杂志网4月19日报道，专注于石油资源丰富的二叠纪盆地的公司可能会成为美国能源行业下一波整合的中心，由于有利的油价促使现金充裕的钻探商开采最大的页岩油来源——二叠纪盆地。

2022年随着地缘政治冲突爆发，顶级产油商从飙升的油价中获得意外利润后，建立专用款项为收购提供资金。

目前的油价只会让二叠纪盆地资产对那些希望迅速重建其耗尽的资产，以利用世界对化石燃料永无止境渴望的那些公司更具吸引力。

咨询公司Enverus首席执行官Andrew Dittmar表示，“我认为，在并购的石油定价方面，我们处于一个有利地位，每桶80美元左右是买卖双方都感到满意的价位。在整个2023年，我们可能会有一个非常活跃的市场，我们将继续看到这些交易成功”。

至少有三位分析师已确定Diamondback Energy股份有限公司、Matador Resources股份有限公司和Permian Resources Corp.为可能的收购目标。

Siebert Williams Shank&Co.股票研究董事总经理Gabriele Sorbara表示，这些公司拥有最高质量的剩余库存、强劲的资产负债表和自由现金流，是不错的选择。

截至2022年，Diamondback拥有28亿美元的自由现金流，已探明的未开发石油和天然气储量为6.29418亿桶油当量，而Matador拥有11.6亿美元的自由现金流，已探明的未开发储量为1.352亿桶油当量。

对于希望增加库存的生产商来说，二叠纪盆地显然是一个目标。位于得克萨斯州和新墨西哥州之间的页岩区拥有必要的基础设施，并以高生产率和大量未开发储量而闻名。

其已探明的技术可采储量估计为500亿桶原油和近300万亿立方英尺天然气。

由于生产商在努力应对成本上升的同时，还面临着向股东返还资金的压力，二叠纪上游业务本已不受投资者的青睐。但去年油价的飙升帮助扭转了局面。

2022年，原油价格升至2014年以来经通胀调整后的最高水平。布伦特原油去年触及139.5美元/桶的历史高位，2023年迄今为止的平均价格为82.6美元/桶。

专注于并购的Enverus董事Andrew Dittmar预计，马拉松石油公司和德文能源公司等顶级生产商将可能成为买家。

Dittmar还预计，未来几年，埃克森美孚和雪佛龙将在二叠纪盆地达成巨额交易。这两家公司已经表示，他们对更多的收购持开放态度。

上周，康菲石油公司首席执行官Ryan Lance表示，他预计会有更多页岩交易，并补充道，二叠纪盆地能源生产商“需要进行整合”。

原文如下：

Permian In Spotlight as Energy Dealmaking Gathers Steam

Companies with a focus on the oil-rich Permian basin are likely to be at the center of the next wave of consolidation in the U.S. energy sector as favorable oil prices prompt cash-rich drillers to tap into the largest source of shale oil.

Top producers have built a war chest to fund acquisitions after reaping windfall profit in 2022 from skyrocketing oil prices following the war.

The current oil prices are only making Permian assets more attractive to companies looking to quickly rebuild their depleting assets to take advantage of the world's never-ending thirst for fossil fuel.

"I think we're in a good spot in terms of oil pricing for M&A, somewhere around $80 per barrel is where both buyers and sellers feel comfortable," said Andrew Dittmar, CEO of consultancy Enverus.

"For all of 2023, we're likely going to have a very active market and we're gonna continue to see these deals hit."

At least three analysts have identified Diamondback Energy Inc., Matador Resources Inc. and Permian Resources Corp. as possible takeout targets.

These companies have the highest quality of remaining inventory as well as strong balance sheets and free cash flow, making them good picks, said Gabriele Sorbara, managing director of equity research at Siebert Williams Shank & Co.

Diamondback ended 2022 with $2.8 billion in free cash flow and proved undeveloped oil and natural gas reserves of 629,418 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), while Matador had $1.16 billion free cash flow and proved undeveloped reserves of 135.2 million BOE.

Permian is an obvious target for producers looking to increase their inventory. The shale patch, which lies between Texas and New Mexico, has the necessary infrastructure and is known for high productivity and large undeveloped reserves.

Its proven, technically recoverable reserves are estimated at 50 billion barrels of crude and nearly 300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Upstream activities had fallen out of favor with investors as producers grappled with rising costs, while facing pressure to return money to their shareholders. But a surge in oil prices last year helped turn the tide.

Crude prices in 2022 rose to their highest inflation-adjusted price since 2014. Brent crude touched a record high of $139.5 per barrel last year and has averaged $82.6 per barrel so far in 2023.

Andrew Dittmar — a director at Enverus, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions — expects top producers such as Marathon Oil Corp. and Devon Energy to emerge as likely buyers.

Dittmar also expects blockbuster deals from Exxon and Chevron in the Permian basin in the next couple of years. The two companies have already indicated they are open to more acquisitions.

Last week, ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said he was expecting more shale deals, adding that "consolidation needs to happen" among Permian Basin energy producers.