U.S. shale oil and gas producers Oasis and Whiting in talks to merge - source

Crestwood Equity Partners LP

07/03/2022 04:15

By David French
    March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. shale oil and gas producers Oasis
Petroleum Inc  OAS.O  and Whiting Petroleum Corp  WLL.N  are
close to agreeing an all-stock merger that could be announced as
soon as this week, a source familiar with the matter said on
Sunday.
    The combined value of the two companies would be around
$6.07 billion, according to Reuters calculations based upon
Friday's closing prices, which valued Oasis at $2.80 billion and
Whiting at $3.27 billion.
    The person with knowledge of the matter spoke on condition
of anonymity in order to discuss private information.
    The deal talks between the pair, which both operate in the
Bakken shale formation of North Dakota, come amid a significant
spike in crude oil prices on the back of the Russian invasion of
Ukraine.
    Both Brent and U.S. benchmarks temporarily hit their highest
levels since 2008 as trading began the week in Asia, as the
United States and European allies mulled a Russian oil import
ban in response to the conflict, which Russia calls a "special
operation".  O/R   urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2V90E8
    The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported the talks
between Oasis and Whiting. 
    Oasis Petroleum and Whiting Petroleum did not immediately
respond to a request for comment. 
    Both companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 after
the energy industry reeled under an unprecedented crash in oil
prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Whiting the first
publicly traded shale producer to file for bankruptcy when it
did so in April of that year. 
    Last year, oil and gas pipeline operator Crestwood Equity
Partners LP  CEQP.N  said it would buy Oasis Petroleum's
midstream unit  OMP.O  in a $1.8 billion deal.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2RM2WN

 (Reporting by David French in Houston and Abinaya
Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
 ((Abinaya.V@thomsonreuters.com;))