Energy-market risks abound. Israeli attacks on Iranian oil and gas infrastructure. The looming possibility of a global trade war. Up-and-down prices for WTI and Brent. Still, in the midst of all this doubt and instability, oil and gas producers continue to buy and sell major upstream assets in the U.S. — and gobble up entire companies — in ongoing efforts to grow their businesses, reshape their portfolios and/or reduce their debt. In today’s RBN blog, we continue our look at recent big-dollar deals in the U.S. oil and gas industry.
As we said in Part 1, 2024 was a record year for upstream M&A in the U.S. and may be hard to beat. But while the number and value of the E&P deals so far in 2025 may not match last year’s pace, there’s been a surprising amount of activity, the standout to date being EOG Resources’ planned $5.6 billion acquisition of Encino Acquisition Partners (EAP), the leading condensate producer in the Utica Shale, which we detailed in Might As Well Jump! Others — all discussed in Part 1 — include Viper Energy’s $4.1 billion purchase of Sitio Royalties, EQT Corp.’s $1.8 billion buyout of Olympus Energy, and Elk Range Royalties’ acquisition of Occidental Petroleum’s extensive mineral-rights and royalty-interest holdings in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin for $905 million.
Today, we continue our look at the most interesting and valuable upstream deals of 2025 with a review of a few other major transactions.
Validus Energy/89 Energy
We’ll start with privately held Validus Energy’s March acquisition of 89 Energy, another private E&P with extensive holdings in the Midcontinent, for $850 million. The purchase was Validus’s third big Midcon-focused deal in the past year and a half — more on that in a moment — and gave the Denver-based E&P an additional 73,000 net acres, 175 net operated wells, and 28 Mboe/d of production in the SCOOP/STACK play in Oklahoma.
Validus, which is backed by equity commitments from Elliott Management, Pontem Energy Capital and other investors, last year paid Continental Resources $450 million for a portion of its SCOOP/STACK assets and, in Validus’s biggest purchase yet, bought Citizen Energy and its extensive Midcon holdings for more than $2 billion. The Citizen deal alone gave Validus about 300,000 net acres, 585 net operated wells and 70 Mboe/d, most of it in SCOOP/STACK.
With the Continental Resources, Citizen Energy and 89 Energy deals, Validus Energy now has about 450,000 net acres, 1,205 net operated wells and 115 Mboe/d of production in the Midcon. The E&P has indicated that it continues to pursue opportunities to expand its portfolio in the region, which has been largely overlooked by many publicly owned E&Ps.
Validus Energy’s previous focus area had been the Eagle Ford. In September 2022, the company closed on the sale of its South Texas assets to Devon Energy for $1.8 billion in cash. As we discussed in Spread Your Wings, Validus acquired 42,000 net acres from Ovintiv in May 2021 for $880 million. Validus was producing 35 Mboe/d on that acreage when it reached the deal with Devon.
Shell/Selected ConocoPhillips Assets in the Gulf of Mexico
Shell said May 1 that it had closed on the purchase of additional ownership interests in key upstream and midstream assets in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) from ConocoPhillips for $735 million. In doing so, Shell expanded its position in what the company views as one of its global focus areas and ConocoPhillips moved toward its broader goal of divesting about $2 billion in corporate assets.
Specifically, Shell acquired ConocoPhillips’s 15.96% stake in the Shell-operated Ursa Tension-Leg Platform (TLP; see photo below) and the associated Ursa Oil Pipeline Co., thereby increasing the company’s working interest in the Ursa platform to 61.35% and its stake in the platform-to-coast Ursa pipeline to 57.2%. The Ursa field, located in the GOM’s Mars Basin 130 miles southeast of New Orleans, produced an estimated 50 Mboe/d in 2024 and more than 800 MMboe since production there started in 1999. The other owners of the Ursa assets are units of BP (22.69%) and Esperanza Capital Partners (ECP; 15.96%).
The Shell-Operated Ursa TLP. Source: Shell
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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.
