Midland

Solaris Midstream Holdings LLC has merged the operations of Water Midstream Partners LLC (WMP) into Solaris Water Midstream LLC, expanding its footprint in the Midland Basin.

Callon Petroleum Co., already on a tear to expand its Permian Basin inventory, has agreed to pay $615 million to gain entry into the Southern Delaware formation, a 30% boost in acreage to complement the Midland oil and natural gas operations.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and officials in Midland, TX agreed Tuesday to a groundbreaking private-public partnership that would provide citizens with a steady source of freshwater and give the producer a ready supply of reclaimed water for its extensive oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin.

Denver-based SM Energy Co. is expanding its footprint in the Midland Basin through the acquisition of 35,700 net acres in Howard and Martin counties in Texas. After closing, SM Energy will hold about 82,450 net acres in the sub-basin of the Permian.

Diamondback Energy Inc. has boosted its 2016 production for the second time since July and now expects 2017 output to be up by double-digits, the Permian Basin pure-play said Monday.

Sunoco Logistics Partners LP has struck a $760 million deal to acquire Vitol Group’s Permian Basin crude oil system in West Texas that is set to close by the end of the year. The transaction includes a 2 million bbl crude oil terminal in Midland and an oil gathering and mainline pipeline system in the Midland sub-basin, which includes an acreage dedication from a Permian producer. Also included are Vitol’s oil purchasing and marketing business in West Texas. The acquisition also would provide Sunoco Logistics 100% of SunVit Pipeline LLC, a 50-50 joint venture with Vitol that connects the Midland terminal to the partnership’s Permian Express 2 pipeline. In connection with the acquisition, Energy Transfer Partners LP and Energy Transfer Equity LP, owners of the partnership’s general partner Sunoco Partners LLC, agreed to reduce incentive distributions by $60 million over a two-year period. The financial assistance “provides us with expected accretive economics for this strategic acquisition,” Sunoco Logistics CEO Michael J. Hennigan said.

Callon Petroleum Co. late Tuesday struck a $327 million deal to acquire more land in the red-hot Permian Basin, which has overtaken every onshore area for merger activity to date.

The “great land grab,” a hallmark of the early onshore unconventional renaissance, is making a big-time comeback in the Permian Basin, even with commodity prices still low.

The outlook for onshore U.S. exploration companies is becoming “incrementally positive” for 2017 and beyond, as supply/demand fundamentals correct and commodity prices begin to move higher, analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc. are predicting.