The pace of multibillion-dollar acquisitions in the upstream sector may have eased a bit after a frenetic couple of years, but M&A among E&Ps is still happening. And, just as important, producers just coming off big deals are divesting assets that don’t fit their strategies, or reaching agreements to buy “bolt-on” acreage and production in key basins. There’s a lot of M&A “fun, fun, fun” going on, though many of the deals don’t make big headlines because there are only nine or 10 numbers after the dollar sign, not 11. In today’s RBN blog, we look at a variety of recent upstream M&A and divestment announcements and what they tell us about the production end of U.S. energy markets.
As we said a couple of months ago in Money Can Buy It, there was a record $120 billion in upstream M&A in 2024, and that was on the heels of three very active years in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The biggest deals last year were gargantuan, with the biggest being Diamondback Energy’s $26 billion acquisition of Endeavor Energy Resources, ConocoPhillips’s buyout $22.5 billion purchase of Marathon Oil, and Chesapeake Energy’s $11.5 billion purchase of Southwestern Energy (to form a natural-gas-focused giant now known as Expand Energy).
The biggest upstream deals so far this year have been considerably smaller. The stand-out is EOG Resources’ May 30 agreement with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CCPIB) and Encino Energy to acquire their jointly owned Encino Acquisition Partners (EAP) — the #1 condensate producer in eastern Ohio’s Utica Shale — for $5.6 billion, inclusive of EAP’s debt. We explained in Might As Well Jump! a few days ago, that EOG sees the deal as transformative for the company in that it gives it a “third foundational play,” the others being the Permian’s Delaware Basin and the Eagle Ford.
To truly understand Cushing — what it does and how it works — you need to know the hub’s assets and how they fit together. RBN’s Cushing Crude Oil Playbook provides the first one-stop, comprehensive guide to the hub’s assets.
Today, we begin a review of several other 2025 upstream deals, some involving the purchase of entire companies and other the acquisition of specific groups of E&P assets. Together, these transactions suggest that while major oil and gas producers are still digesting the companies they gobbled up in 2022-24, they also are bolting on complementary assets and divesting what’s not core to their strategies — all while making sure not to run up their debt.
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About the song
“Fun, Fun, Fun” was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love and appears as the first song on side one of The Beach Boys’ fifth studio album, Shut Down Volume 2. Originally called “Run, Run, Run,” Mike Love has stated that the lyrics were modeled after Chuck Berry’s song “Nadine.” It must also be noted that Carl Wilson’s guitar intro was almost a perfect rendition of the one Chuck Berry used for “Johnny B. Goode” and “Roll Over Beethoven.” The Beach Boys’ song promotes the Southern California lifestyle that their music encapsulated so perfectly. A teenager borrows her father’s new T-Bird under the guise of going to the library and cruises to the local burger stand and teen hangout instead. It results in her father taking the keys away and the young protagonist being offered a ride to cruise with someone new. The song was recorded at United Western Recorders Studio 3 in Hollywood in January 1964 and produced by Brian Wilson. Released as a single in February 1964, six days before The Beatles’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, it went to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. Personnel on the record were: Mike Love (lead, backing vocals), Brian Wilson ( piano, Hammond B3 Organ, backing vocals), Al Jardine (bass, backing vocals), Carl Wilson (lead, rhythm guitars, backing vocals), Dennis Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Ray Pohlman ( 6-string electric bass), Hal Blaine (drums), Steve Douglas (tenor sax) and Jay Migliori (baritone sax).
Shut Down Volume 2 was recorded at United Western Recorders and Gold Star in Hollywood in January and February 1964. Produced by Brian Wilson, it was the first of three studio albums that The Beach Boys released in 1964 and the first album without guitarist David Marks, who left the band after disagreements with Beach Boys manager — and Wilson brothers’ father — Murry Wilson. The album cover photo features the band in matching blue windbreaker jackets posing around Dennis Wilson’s blue 1964 Corvette Stingray and Carl Wilson’s blue 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix. The 12-song LP included the hit singles “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “Don’t Worry Baby.” Released in March 1964, it went to #13 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. Two singles were released from the LP.
The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, CA, in 1961 by brothers Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, cousin Mike Love and close friend Al Jardine. They were one of the main groups that invented “the California Sound,” incorporating vivid descriptions of teenagers, hot rods, surfing and other elements of Southern California culture. They have released 29 studio albums, 12 live albums, a soundtrack album, 59 compilation albums, 25 EPs and 75 singles. Their 1966 studio album, Pet Sounds, and the single “Good Vibrations” are considered to be among the greatest works in pop music. The Beach Boys have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. They are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Vocal Group Hall of Fame and have a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The band and Brian Wilson have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Dennis Wilson died in December 1983 at 39. Carl Wilson died in February 1998 at 51. Brian Wilson died in June 2025 at 82. The Beach Boys still tour with original singer Mike Love and will be appearing at various U.S. venues through the fall of 2025.
We at RBN are saddened by the recent passing of Brian Wilson. He was the architect, arranger, producer and main songwriter for The Beach Boys, and helped change the sound of pop music. He will be greatly missed, but his musical contributions will live forever. Our condolences go to his family, friends and fans.
