Why did Exxon acquire PXD?

[dan_s]

Watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btDVfbI858g

It is 10 minute history lesson that explains WHY Exxon acquired Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) and WHY I expect more of our Sweet 16 Permian Basin pure plays to be acquired by the major oil companies.
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Note from Peter Zeihan on 10-18-2023:
With ExxonMobil's acquisition of Pioneer, it's time to kiss the days of mom-and-pop shale operations goodbye. But before we look at what's next, let's look at the shale journey over the last two decades.

Thanks to high oil prices in the early 2000s (before the 2008 financial crisis), small shale operations could innovate and develop new techniques for extracting that black gold. Once the US was close to achieving energy independence, super majors caught a whiff of the money and started buying up those smaller producers.

This recent acquisition signals the end of an era as the super majors now dominate shale production. So, what does that mean for US shale? While there will be less innovation and slower production growth, ExxonMobil will provide more stability to the industry.