Topping news last week was Diamondback Energy and here we are again. The Midland-based company said it will acquire Birmingham, Alabama-based Energenin an all-stock deal valued at $9.2 billion. Diamondback shares initially fell roughly 10% following the announcement. Energen shares rose nearly 4%. The acquisition will add 179,000 net acres to Diamondback’s position across the Midland and Delaware Basins. The company has been very active lately, having announced more than $10 billion worth of acquisitions in the span of a week.  The company purchased Ajax Resources last week to add to its Northern Midland position. Meanwhile, Diamondback’s Rattler Midstream filed its IPO paperwork on August 7th. 

In other A&D news, Carrizo Oil and Gas said it has acquired Delaware Basin acreage from Devon Energyfor $215 million in cash. Carrizo president and CEO Chip Johnson said the 9,600 net-acre deal increases the company’s acreage position in the Delaware and offers an excellent fit with its phantom-area acreage.  “The acquisition materially increases our inventory of derisked drilling locations in the area, as well as offers significant upside potential from delineating the entire position and testing additional zones,” said Johnson.

Oil companies bid on less than 1% of the parcels offered during Wednesday’s U.S. Gulf of Mexico lease auction. Exxon Mobil came away with the most block, 25 to be exact, followed by BP with 19 high bids. Hess and Equinor each had 16. Exxon Mobil bid $40.5 million for its parcels, which is the most of any company. Hess had the highest bid for a single block at $25.9 million. Smaller companies including Talos Energy and W&T Offshore were among the top 10 high bidders according to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. In all there were $178 million dollars’ worth of high bids. That’s up from $124 million dollars in the last auction in March.