Pioneer Natural Building Permian Midland Stronghold with $6.4B DoublePoint Deal

Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co., whose focus has long been in the Permian Basin Midland, is plunking down $6.4 billion to build its base with the takeover of West Texas competitor DoublePoint Energy LLC. 

The deal, a cash-and-stock split, would add 97,000 net contiguous acres directly offsetting and overlapping Pioneer’s existing footprint. The mostly undrilled acreage would increase Pioneer’s Midland sub-basin leasehold to one million-plus acres with “no exposure to federal lands.” DoublePoint’s footprint in the Midland would “complement our unmatched position in the core of the Permian Basin,” Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield said. 

Fort Worth, TX-based DoublePoint was formed in 2018 by two Lower 48 explorers, Double Eagle Energy Holdings III LLC and...