CALGARY, Alberta (Aug. 5, 2026) — Enverus Intelligence® Research (EIR), a subsidiary of Enverus, the leading energy data analytics platform, has released its summary of recent U.S. upstream M&A activity and market outlook, highlighting a quarter in which commodity volatility temporarily throttled deal flow even as competition for core Permian inventory reached record intensity.
U.S. upstream deal value fell to $9.1 billion in the second quarter, the third-lowest quarterly total since 2020. The result marked a 76% decline Q/Q, with value in the first quarter of the year inflated by Devon Energy’s merger with Coterra Energy, and a 33% drop from a year ago. More than 40% of second-quarter value came from a single event: the Bureau of Land Management’s record-setting New Mexico lease sale, which brought in over $4 billion and shattered the prior auction record of $972 million set in 2018.
“The quarter looks weak on the headline number, but that understates the strength of the underlying bid for inventory. Crude volatility tied to the Iran conflict and a softening gas outlook likely widened the bid-ask spread and complicated valuations, which pushed announced value to one of its lowest quarterly totals in years. We view that as a temporary negotiation obstacle rather than a demand problem. Public companies are willing to pay ever-higher prices for tier-one Permian acreage and buyers deploying asset-backed securitization capital are still very much in the market,” said Andrew Dittmar, principal analyst at Enverus Intelligence Research.
Top Five U.S. Upstream Deals of 2Q26
| Date | Buyers | Sellers | US Region | Value ($MM) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/21/26 | Devon Energy | Bureau of Land Management | Delaware Basin | $2,600 |
| 06/30/26 | Talos Energy; Ridgewood | Shell | Gulf of Mexico | $1,700 |
| 05/06/26 | Diversified Energy | Camino Natural Resources | Mid-Continent | $1,175 |
| 05/21/26 | Matador Resources | Bureau of Land Management | Delaware Basin | $1,100 |
| 05/01/26 | Jonah Energy; Multiple | Scout Energy Partners | Mid-Continent | $1,000 |
Public companies dominated acquisition activity in the quarter. They led the bidding in the BLM lease sale, where Devon Energy and Matador Resources paid record-setting pricing for Permian locations. Additionally, Diversified Energy, in partnership with Carlyle, acquired the majority of Camino Natural Resources in the Anadarko Basin and Talos Energy extended its rollup of mature Gulf of Mexico assets.
The appetite for assets from private buyers was also strong. The two principal private ABS-fueled buyers, Flywheel Energy and Jonah Energy, remain serial acquirers. Jonah deployed fresh capital into the Mid-Continent with its $1 billion purchase from Scout Energy Partners. ABS buyers accounted for nearly 30% of asset-level deal flow, the second straight quarter at that level, and over the last twelve months they have absorbed roughly $10 billion in assets. Bids from ABS capital have lifted pricing on formerly discounted production-heavy positions and turned the Anadarko Basin into a leading region for M&A, with more than $5 billion transacting there year-to-date, after years as a dealmaking backwater.
“ABS buyers have become the marginal bid for most production-heavy offerings, and that has changed the map. Assets that once traded at a discount because they were inventory-light are now competitively sought after, and the Mid-Continent is a clear beneficiary. We expect this structure has near-term staying power and will expand geographically. The DJ and Williston basins look primed for ABS deployment, given their mature profiles and constrained public-buyer pools, as the structure expands to include more oil-weighted positions,” said Dittmar.
For buyers seeking quality oil-weighted drilling locations, the story remains scarcity driving high competition for assets. Nowhere is that more notable than the Permian, where the BLM auction set records for inventory pricing. While unique factors like lower royalty burdens, untouched acreage and the ability to cherry-pick parcels contributed to the BLM’s record pricing relative to past deals, it wasn’t a one-off occasion. After the sale, EnCap Investment’s Paloma Permian garnered a premium compared to the last few years of Permian deal activity in its July sale to Matador for $1.3 billion. Outside the Permian, Eagle Ford inventory is catching a bid with WildFire Energy selling for just over $4 billion to Magnolia Oil & Gas.
“The jump in Permian pricing did not stay contained to one auction with a scarcity of opportunities and higher oil pushing already lofty valuations for core locations higher. The latest data points reset the anchor for every private Permian operator with exposure to tier one inventory. We expect recent pricing to pull more private companies into the market. Likewise, Magnolia’s purchase of WildFire is an endorsement of public company demand for inventory in the Eagle Ford and similarly a strong print in that sale should motivate more sellers,” added Dittmar.
While Lower 48 inventory pricing climbs higher, the Montney still offers a cheaper alternative for high-quality locations. That is what Shell capitalized on in its $16.4 billion purchase of Canadian producer ARC Resources in April. The deal was enough to drive total Canadian announced deal value above what was recorded in the U.S. during the second quarter, a rare occurrence. Consolidation and deal making potential remains in the Canadian oil patch, both among domestic producers and drawing in global companies like Shell that are betting on the depth of Canada’s resource base and an improving infrastructure outlook.
Gas-directed M&A struggled in the second quarter. Near-term fundamentals deteriorated for the commodity and the Haynesville, the principal target for international buyers, has run short of available packages. The biggest gas-weighted deal that did clear in the second quarter, Diversified’s Camino acquisition, sat outside the Haynesville in a gassier portion of the SCOOP|STACK. Opportunities in the Anadarko Basin, Eagle Ford and Rocky Mountains are likely to offer more buyer-friendly pricing than the crowded Haynesville market. Sixth Street Partners is reported to be the buyer of San Juan-focused LOGOS Resources, although nothing was publicly disclosed by the companies about the transaction.
“The near-term pause in gas deals is about price and a lack of targets, not a lack of interest. The longer-term demand case from LNG is intact. We ultimately expect more international capital to invest in U.S. gas production,” said Dittmar.
Non-core divestitures by public companies remain topical. Strong valuations in asset markets for undeveloped inventory relative to where equity markets sit strengthen the case for pruning non-core positions. However, that is balanced against overarching concerns around resource scarcity plus healthy balance sheets and free cash flow profiles that dampen pressure to trim portfolios.
Overall, deal flow is likely to accelerate in the back half of the year. A general reset of oil prices higher is motivating private operators to bring assets to market to capture attractive pricing, and public buyers are entering the period with improved free-cash-flow profiles and stronger equity currency.
“Higher crude is supercharging both the private sellers coming to market and public-company appetite for inventory. We expect a much busier second half, with private companies as the primary source of assets and public buyers and ABS capital as the two active bidding groups,” concluded Dittmar.
EIR’s analysis pulls from a variety of products including Enverus ONE.
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