"ConocoPhillips, Preliminary Negotiations for Marathon Oil Acquisition"

American energy company ConocoPhillips is reportedly conducting preliminary negotiations to acquire Marathon Oil, according to major foreign media citing sources on the 29th (local time).

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

According to reports, ConocoPhillips is valuing Marathon Oil, headquartered in Houston, Texas, slightly above its current market value of approximately $15 billion. If ConocoPhillips acquires Marathon Oil, it would be the largest deal since the $10 billion acquisition of Concho Resources in 2020.

The merger and acquisition discussions, which continued late into the previous night, are close to an agreement but there remains a possibility that negotiations could break down or that competitors might prevail. ConocoPhillips, with a market capitalization of $139 billion, has been competing with Devon Energy to acquire Marathon Oil. Earlier, Bloomberg reported in October last year that Devon Energy held preliminary talks to acquire Marathon Oil.

Marathon Oil holds assets in the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota, as well as in the Permian Basin across Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. It also operates an integrated gas business in Equatorial Guinea.

Recently, the energy industry has seen a series of moves to expand through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Following ExxonMobil's announcement last year of its acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, Chevron announced acquisitions of Hess, Occidental Petroleum announced acquisitions of CrownRock, and Diamondback Energy announced acquisitions of Endeavor Energy. Earlier this year, ConocoPhillips also entered the bidding for Endeavor Energy but was outbid by Diamondback Energy.