據彭博新聞社2021年8月3日報道，知情人士說，德文能源公司和康菲公司等潛在買家時下正在評估荷蘭皇家殼牌公司在美國二疊紀盆地油田的投資組合，這些油田投資組合的出售價值可能高達100億美元。

　　知情人士說，雪佛龍公司也在考慮競購這些資產，這些資產大部分位于西德克薩斯州。上述要求匿名采訪的知情人士說，求購者已被邀請到殼牌公司的資料室檢查有關業務的信息。

　　位于西德克薩斯州和新墨西哥州的二疊紀盆地是世界上最繁忙的頁巖探區，約占今天美國油田活動的一半。 知情人士說，相關討論正在進行中，目前還不確定是否會有競購者決定繼續進行正式提議。

　　雪佛龍公司、康菲公司、德文能源公司和殼牌公司的代表都拒絕置評。

　　此次資產出售之際，油氣巨頭們正在轉變戰略，轉向碳排放較低的業務。 英國石油公司去年完成了將其在阿拉斯加的業務出售給Hilcorp 能源公司的交易，而在今年年初，挪威Equinor同意以9億美元的價格將其在蒙大拿州和北達科他州巴肯油田的權益出售給Grayson Mill能源公司。

　　今年5月，殼牌公司在與“地球之友”旗下的環境防御公司的一場官司中敗訴后，荷蘭一家法院要求其以比原計劃更大力度、更快的速度削減排放。 殼牌公司表示將提起上訴，同時表示愿意加快向凈零排放業務轉型。

　　與此同時，美國的投資者也一直在推動每個頁巖盆地內更多的公司結盟，以降低成本，為鉆探成本帶來更大的效益。Bonanza Creek能源公司以大約10億美元的價格收購了其科羅拉多州的競爭對手Extraction油氣公司，而總部位于得克薩斯州米德蘭的響尾蛇能源公司去年底宣布了兩筆增加二疊紀盆地探區面積的交易。

　　響尾蛇能源公司首席財務官Matthew Kaes Van 't Hof本月早些時候在沃斯堡哈特能源會議上表示：“整合很重要，這將持續發生?！薄懊總€盆地都將誕生幾個大贏家，包括大公司。”

　　李峻 編譯自 彭博新聞社

　　原文如下：

　　Devon and Conoco Study $10B Shell Permian Assets

　　Devon Energy Corp. and ConocoPhillips are among potential suitors studying Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s portfolio of Permian Basin oil fields, which could be worth as much as $10 billion in a sale, people familiar with the matter said.

　　Chevron Corp. is also among companies considering bids for the assets, which are largely located in West Texas, the people said. Suitors have been invited to Shell’s data room to examine information on the business, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

　　The Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico is the world’s busiest shale patch and accounts for roughly half the activity in U.S. oil fields today. Deliberations are ongoing, and there’s no certainty any of the suitors will decide to proceed with formal proposals, according to the people.

　　Representatives for Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Devon and Shell declined to comment.

　　The sale comes amid shifting strategies at oil and gas majors looking to less carbon intensive operations. BP Plc last year completed the sale of its business in Alaska to Hilcorp Energy Co., while in early 2021 Equinor ASA agreed to sell its interests in the Bakken field in Montana and North Dakota to Grayson Mill Energy for $900 million.

　　In May, Shell was ordered by a Dutch court to slash its emissions harder and faster than planned after losing a court case against Milieudefensie, an arm of Friends of the Earth. Shell said it will appeal the verdict, while asserting a willingness to accelerate its transition to a net-zero emissions business.

　　Meanwhile, investors in the U.S. have been pushing for more company tie-ups within each of the shale basins as a way to cut costs and get more bang for their drilling buck. Bonanza Creek Energy Inc. bought its Colorado rival Extraction Oil & Gas Inc. for about $1 billion, while Midland, Texas-based Diamondback Energy Inc. announced a pair of deals late last year to bulk up in the Permian.

　　“Consolidation is important, it’s going to keep happening,” Matthew Kaes Van’t Hof, chief financial officer at Diamondback, said earlier this month at the Hart Energy conference in Fort Worth. “There’s going to be a few large basin champions in each basin, majors included.”