Darren Woods, Exxon chairman and CEO, said Spring-based ExxonMobil and Irving-based Pioneer Natural Resources will be able to use their combined capabilities to drive down emissions and produce lower carbon intensity oil and gas. The combined company, Woods said, will generate value “well in excess of what either company is capable of doing on a stand-alone basis.” Scott Sheffield, CEO of Pioneer, added, “The combination of ExxonMobil and Pioneer creates a diversified energy company with the largest footprint of high-return wells in the Permian Basin.”
Exxon’s acquisition of Pioneer for $64.5 billion was jointly announced Wednesday.
New York Times reported, “Exxon is effectively betting that U.S. energy policy will not move against fossil fuels in a major way even as the Biden administration encourages automakers to switch to electric vehicles and utilities to make the transition to renewable energy… The Pioneer deal is a sign that it is now easier to acquire an oil producer than to drill for oil in a new location. Exxon, a refining and petrochemical powerhouse, needs a lot more oil and gas to turn into gasoline, diesel, plastics, LNG, chemicals and other products. Much of that oil and gas is likely to come from the Permian Basin.”
“Volume is not the objective here,” Exxon senior vice president Neil Chapman told reporters. “This is the best deal for ExxonMobil. It allows us to do what we’ve been doing in the Delaware and apply it to (Pioneer’s) resources.”