It’s not always easy — or sometimes even possible — to discern trends in upstream-sector M&A activity, but at least a couple of things seem clear as we begin the new year. One is that E&Ps continue to zero in on the production basins where they see the most promise, and to divest assets that aren’t core to their real focus. Another is that the ongoing ramp-up in LNG exports is spurring heightened interest among U.S. and overseas companies in acreage and production targeting that market. In today’s RBN blog, we discuss a few of the big-dollar upstream M&A deals that were unveiled in the past couple of months.
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In Stayin’ Alive, our most recent roundup, we looked at the acquisitions that Crescent Energy, California Resources, Chord Energy and others were making to gain scale and expand their holdings in key production areas. More recently, in Take Me Home, Country Roads, we examined Antero Resources’ planned purchase of West Virginia E&P HG Energy (and divestiture of Antero’s Ohio assets), and, in Back in the Saddle, we reviewed U.K.-based Harbour Energy’s newly announced deal to buy LLOG Exploration, a Gulf of Mexico producer.
It’s already time for another roundup — the M&A keeps comin’. We’ll start with Baytex Energy and the $2.3 billion sale of its Eagle Ford assets, which is unusual in that the buyer’s name was not announced and remains under wraps. (That suggests the acquirer is privately held and backed by private equity.) The transaction, which was announced on November 12 and closed on December 19, is also an outlier in that Baytex said that when it releases its full-year 2025 results in early March it expects to record a “loss on disposition” of between $250 million and $350 million related to the sale. (A loss on deposition occurs when an asset is sold for less than its net book value — that is, its original cost minus accumulated depreciation.)
Baytex Energy had been only a minor, “non-op” player in the Eagle Ford in June 2023 when it acquired Ranger Oil for $2.5 billion. The Ranger deal more than tripled Baytex’s production and net acreage in South Texas (green and pink areas in Figure 1 below), gave the E&P its first experience as an Eagle Ford operator, and diversified its operations, which had been heavily weighted toward Western Canada. In Q3 2023, the first quarter after the Ranger deal closed, Baytex produced 87 Mboe/d in the Eagle Ford (85% oil and NGLs); in Q3 2025, its assets there produced 83 Mboe/d.
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About the song
“Focus” was written by Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, Ilya, and Ariana Grande, and appears as the 16th song on the Japanese edition of Grande’s third studio album, Dangerous Woman. The song is about embracing acceptance and focusing on the positive aspects of a person. Recorded in 2015 at MXM and Wolf Cousins Studios in Stockholm, it was produced by Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, Ilya, and Ariana Grande. Released as a single in October 2015, it went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and has been certified 2X Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was originally slated to be the first song on Grande’s third studio album, but was released as a single and excluded from the LP, except for the Japanese issues of the album. Personnel on the record were: Ariana Grande (lead vocals), Ilya (guitar, bass, keyboards, programming, backing vocals), Max Martin (programming), Jonas Thander (saxophone, horn arrangements), Stefin Fiadon (trombone), Stefan Persson (trumpet), Jonne Bentiou (trumpet), Peter Carlsson (percussion), Peter Svensson (bass), and Savan Kotecha, Jamie Foxx (backing vocals).
Dangerous Woman was recorded between August 2014 and January 2016 at Vietnom, MXM, and Wolf Cousins in Stockholm; Willow-Valley in Gothenburg, Sweden; Glenwood Place in Burbank, CA; Milkboy in Philadelphia, Audible Images in Pittsburgh, and Windmark in Santa Monica, CA. It was produced by Tommy Brown, Max Martin, Johan Carlsson, Twice as Nice, Ilya, Steven Franks, FKi, Thomas Parker Lumpkins, Travis Sayles, The Magi, Ali Payami, Peter Svensson, Billboard, and Peter Carlsson. The album was released in May 2016 and went to #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It has been certified 2X Platinum by the RIAA. Four singles were released from the LP.
Ariana Grande is an American singer, songwriter and actress known for her four-octave vocal range. Her professional career began when she was a teenager, acting in the Broadway musical 13. She gained recognition as the character Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon television series Victorious and its spin-off, Sam & Cat. She released her debut record album, Yours Truly, on Republic Records in 2013. She has dropped seven studio albums, two live albums, two soundtrack albums, a compilation album, three EPs, and 61 singles and has sold more than 90 million records worldwide. Grande has appeared in two television series, on Broadway, and in seven motion pictures. She is one of the stars in the current hit movie, Wicked: For Good, released in November 2025. She has won three American Music Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, a Brit Award, two Grammy Awards, and 13 MTV Video Music Awards. Grande continues to record, act and tour, and will begin her Eternal Sunshine Tour in June 2026.
"About the Song" -- written by Mickey McMahan , RBN Director of Musicology
