Energy Transfer's unit prices have surged over 13% this year, bolstered by two significant acquisitions. The company spent nearly $1.5 billion on acquiring Lotus Midstream, a deal that will instantly boost its free and distributable cash flow. A recently inked $7.1 billion deal to acquire Crestwood Equity Partners is also set to immediately enhance the company's distributable cash flow per unit. Energy Transfer aims to unlock commercial opportunities and refinance Crestwood's debt, amplifying the deal's value proposition. These strategic acquisitions provide the company additional avenues for expanding its distribution, which already offers a strong yield of 9.2%. Energized by both organic growth and its midstream consolidation efforts, Energy Transfer aims to uplift its payout by 3% to 5% annually.

Energy Transfer is taking on $3 billion of Crestwood's debt in a stock deal. This move expands their reach in the Williston and Delaware basins and gets them into the Powder River Basin for the first time.

Chord Energy Corp.'s subsidiary has entered into an agreement to purchase assets in the Williston Basin from Exxon Mobil, and its affiliates for $375 million. Chord Energy, a US independent company, is strategically expanding its presence in the Williston Basin of Montana and the Dakotas. While industry attention remains fixated on the Permian Basin, Chord Energy recognizes the potential of the Williston Basin and is capitalizing on the opportunity to enhance its reserve portfolio. Chord Energy successfully completed the acquisition of 62,000 acres in the Williston Basin from XTO Energy for a substantial cash consideration of $375 million.

The Williston Basin, which spans parts of North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, is a major oil-producing region in North America. In order to transport crude oil and natural gas from the wells to refineries and other destinations, a vast pipeline infrastructure has been built in the area. The pipeline infrastructure in the Williston Basin consists of a network of pipelines that connect production sites to processing facilities, storage tanks, and major pipeline hubs

Ovintiv Strikes Billion-Dollar Oil Deal, Doubling Production in Permian Basin with EnCap's Black Swan, PetroLegacy, and Piedra Resources. The deal, which was approved unanimously by Ovintiv's board, is slated to close on June 30. With over $5 billion in transactions announced on April 3, Ovintiv is set to expand its oil production by snatching up 65,000 net acres in the core of the Midland Basin. The deal with EnCap will give them a strategic edge in Martin and Andrews counties, Texas, with approximately 1,050 net, 10,000-ft well locations added to their inventory.

On January 5 Northern Oil & Gas (NOG) concluded a deal to acquire working interests in Midland-Petro D.C. Partners LLC (MPDC)'s Mascot Project in the Midland Basin, according to a January 9 press release. Firstly estimated at $330 million in cash, the deal was signed with an additional 3.25% working interest added to the 36.7% agreed upon when the transaction was announced on October 19. NOG paid $29 million more for the additional interests, which now totalled 39.958%. Finally, the deal closed for $320 million in cash and $43 million in debt at signing in October with the finance of Minnetonka, Minn.-based NOG with cash on hand, operating free cash flow, and assistance from its revolving credit facility.

Recent acquisitions totaling $305 million in cash bring Summit Midstream the opportunity to build up its Denver-Julesburg basin assets. Its subsidiary, Summit Midstream Holdings, concluded a deal to purchase Outrigger DJ Midstream from Outrigger Energy II and Sterling Energy Investments, Grasslands Energy Marketing, and Centennial Water Pipelines from Sterling Investment Holdings. Weld County-based Outrigger’s assets in Colorado are significant as they include a 60 MMcfd cryogenic natural gas processing plant, almost 70 miles of low-pressure natural gas gathering lines, 90 miles of high-pressure natural gas gathering lines, 12,800 horsepower of field and plant compression, and roughly 30 miles of crude oil gathering pipelines.

Northern Oil and Gas Inc. (NOG) made a $330 million purchase in the Permian Basin, according to the release on October 19. NOG revealed an agreement to purchase a 36.7% working interest in the Mascot Project from Midland-Petro D.C. Partners LLC (MDPC). The acquisition will be funded with cash on hand, operating free cash flow, and borrowings. The Mascot Project is operated by Permian Deep Rock Oil Co., an affiliate of MPDC, which is a David H. Arrington-owned business based in Midland, Texas. NOG anticipates that the production from the acquired properties to average almost 4,400 boe/d in the first quarter of 2023 and 6,450 boe/d for the full-year 2023 (2-stream, about 80% oil).

Antero Midstream Corp. bought Marcellus assets of Crestwood Equity Partners LP on September 12 for $205 million in cash, signing another sale of noncore assets by the Houston-based company. Crestwood has strategically enhanced its asset portfolio through a series of A&D transactions for the previous 18 months to create a competitive scale in the Williston, Delaware, and Power River basins. The strategy covered acquisitions of Oasis Midstream Partners, Sendero Midstream, and Crestwood Permian Basin Holdings LLC (CPJV), which was a 50:50 joint venture of Crestwood and First Reserve. The assets to be bought cover 72 miles of dry gas gathering pipelines and nine compressor stations with about 700 MMcf/d of compression capacity. The current throughput on the system is approximately 200 MMcf/d, resulting in important available capacity for increase without major capital investment. The deal includes almost 425 undeveloped drilling locations and 120,000 gross dedicated acres from Antero Resources mainly in Harrison County. The acquisition is also anticipated to raise Antero Midstream’s compression capacity by 20% and gathering pipeline mileage by 15%.

The two Bakken shale producers announced in a joint statement on March 7 that they had reached an agreement to unite in a $6 billion "merger of equals." Combining these two companies will create a leading Williston Basin position with assets covering approximately 972,000 net acres, production of 167,800 boe/d, and an enhanced free cash flow generation that will generate capital returns to shareholders. A historic collapse in oil prices prompted both Whiting and Oasis oil companies to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2020. Thus, the merger can be viewed as a preventive measure to avoid going out of business.

The investment will happen in the next 2 years. The project intends to capture CO2 from ethanol plants and other sources in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Upon aggregation, CO2 will be transported via pipeline to North Dakota, where it will be stored in subsurface geologic formations. The formations will be in the Williston Basin, where Continental Resources has been a dominant producer for more than half a century. At the moment it’s the world's most ambitious carboncapture venture of its kind. The sequestration itself should be underway by spring 2024.

Devon Energy Corp. believes that the Anadarko Basin is a hidden treasure and aims to use its position in it to fuel a robust cash return model and establish itself as an industry leader in promoting ESG. This E&P company plans to drill 45 new wells in the Midcontinent by 2022, as well as to produce 600,000 boe/d across five operating basins, including the Eagle Ford Shale, Permian, Powder River, and Williston basins. And given that Devon's recent fourth-quarter results were better than Street estimates. It appears that they are doing something right, at least for the moment.

Still waters run deep: after patiently waiting for 2 years, Lime Rock Resources starts the year with a pair of acquisitions worth $358.5 million The two acquisitions include Abraxas Petroleum’s Williston Basin position in North Dakota: about 3,500 acres of land and 19,400 boed of net production, as well as properties situated in Burleson, Milam, and Robertson in Texas from a third party, that contain 46,000 contiguous net acres and produce 7,700 boed as of the closing of the deal. The company intends to intensify its focus on low-risk opportunities and margins, which will significantly boost Lime’s market position going further.

Evolution Petroleum just spend a fortune on Jonah’s Field right after acquiring Hamilton Dome Field in Wyoming. The price of the transaction is $29.4 million. The Houston-based company aims to diversify into natural gas assets, providing access to the western markets through the Opal market hub, with the optionality to flow to the east. That transaction took effect on February 1. We anticipate closing on or about April 1.

Crestwood & Oasis Midstream merge to create a top Williston #basin player. $1.8 billion deal is expected to close during the Q1 of 2022. The transaction will result in a 21.7% ownership stake for Oasis in Crestwood common units. The remaining ownership of Oasis in Crestwood will also be of benefit to the company since it will create a diversified midstream operator with a strong balance sheet and a bullish outlook after this accretive merger.