US Shareholders Approve Merger Creating $6B Oil & Gas Producer

Shareholders in a longstanding Denver oil company voted Tuesday to merge the business with a Texas oil producer in a deal that shifts the company headquarters out of Denver.

Oasis Petroleum is declaring a special dividend of $15 per share of Oasis common stock in connection with closing its merger of equals with Whiting Petroleum.

The merger makes the new combined company the Williston Basin’s largest asset holder and it’s No. 2 producer, with 972,000 net acres and 170,000 barrels of oil production per day in an essentially leverage-free company.

The company has not yet announced its new name, but WHOAsis comes to mind considering the implications of this deal. Analysts have told the Williston Herald this merger puts the company in a kind of catbird seat to snap up properties given the basin consolidation they expect is ahead for the Bakken.

“This is particularly key, as there are large positions held by multi-basin producers that could be available as acquisition targets for Whiting and Oasis, but were likely beyond the scope of deals that either company could tackle on their own,” Enverus Analyst Andrew Dittmar said. “Further acquisitions should be part of the combined companies’ strategy, as inventory management is key in a relatively mature play like the Bakken, and further consolidation will continue to broaden the company’s relevance in equity markets.”

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