The $1.3 billion sale is part of the divestment program after taking over Marathon, while ExxonMobil signed an MoU to re-enter Libya with four offshore blocks, marking its return to the country’s hydrocarbon exploration.
My better half and I spent the past week in Dallas, a city projected by some to be the biggest city in the USA by 2100. We got to enjoy several beautiful public golf courses, visited the suburbs of Frisco and Plano, and met two colleagues from the energy industry. I thanked them for being loyal readers of Well Read, and especially for providing detailed feedback.
Let’s dig into two pieces of energy news from the past week.
Shangyou Nie
Editor, Well Read
COP Divests Shale Assets for $1.3 Billion in Anadarko Basin
United States Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-69-EE
ConocoPhillips (COP) announced that it has reached an agreement to sell the Anadarko Basin asset in Oklahoma for $1.3 billion. This is part of the divestment program after taking over Marathon. The buyer is reportedly Flywheel Energy, backed by Stone Ridge Energy.
About the divestment:
Last week, COP announced that it reached an agreement to sell its Anadarko Basin assets for $1.3 billion as part of the Q2 results press release.
COP said that the transaction will close in Q4, but did not specify the buyer in its press release.
There were media reports on 7 August that the buyer is Flywheel Energy, backed by Stone Ridge Energy.
Two weeks ago, on 22 July, Bloomberg reported that COP and Flywheel Energy LLC were negotiating for the $1.3 billion deal.
The gas-weighted assets have about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day production.
With this sale, COP exceeded its goal of divesting $2 billion in non-core assets after taking over Marathon.
Background:
COP closed the $22 billion acquisition of Marathon in November 2024, adding 2.5 billion barrels of resource, 25 percent higher than the initial assessment.
Primary targets for Marathon acquisitions were for Eagle Ford and the Bakken.
For example, COP says that it has 15 years of drilling inventory in the Eagle Ford basin.
Lance said that the divestment assets made the sell list after a “rigorous exercise,” when they could not compete for capital even in the long term.
COP thinks that it can afford to make the shale divestments due to its “inventory advantage,” with “very deep and Tier 1 inventory.”
About the buyer:
Flywheel Energy is an onshore producer based in Oklahoma City.
Stone Ridge Energy is part of the Stone Ridge Holdings Group, a financial service company, based in New York, launched in 2021.
COP completed asset integration from Marathon acquisition in November 2024, producing 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent in Q2.
COP said it achieved the production results “with 30 percent fewer rigs and frac crews,” effectively eliminating the equivalent of Marathon’s 10-rig program in the Lower 48.
63 percent of COP’s production is from the US Lower 48.
COP assumes a “$70 per barrel WTI price environment.”
Three major new projects to come on stream before 2030: 2 LNG trains in Qatar (2027 and 2029), 1 LNG train in Port Arthur (2028), and Willow in Alaska (2029).
COP paid $1 billion for dividends and purchased $1.2 billion worth of shares back in Q2.
COP has a market cap of $116 billion. Its share price is down 7 percent year to date in 2025, partly due to lower oil/gas prices.
What did they say?
“We’re recognized as having the most advantaged US inventory position in the sector… as the U.S. shale industry continues to mature,” said Ryan Lance, CEO of COP, during the Q2 results call.
“We’re resource-rich in a resource-scarce world today,” Lance told the analysts.
On 7 August, Lance had a CNBC interview and said his company is “focusing on organic growth today,” having done few merger and acquisition deals in the past 2–3 years.
“We are pretty pleased with the price we are getting from the Anadarko Basin asset sale," Lance added.
“We’re also seeing opportunities to trade acreage to core up positions, adding more longer laterals,” said Nick Olds, COP’s EVP for the Lower 48 and Global HSE.
“This acquisition marks a key milestone in our commitment to safeguard sound money while utilizing innovative solutions to efficiently help meet soaring global energy demand,” said Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge.
What to watch:
What other assets will be included in COP’s additional $2.5 billion asset sales?
If there are additional American assets, they could count as investments by Asian or European buyers to help fulfill their pledge to invest in the USA.
COP might also trade acreage in its US shale to help enable longer horizontal wells.
After a major acquisition, buyers tend to have post-merger asset sales. With the completion of the Hess takeover, what assets might Chevron sell?
Dig deeper: Go here for COP’s complete transcript for its Q2 call.
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ExxonMobil Signs for Four Offshore Blocks to Enter Libya
Felix Santiago Allendes/Shutterstock
ExxonMobil has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for four exploration blocks to re-enter Libya. This is after two recent memoranda of understanding were signed by BP and Shell with Libya’s National Oil Company. The biggest American oil company is joining its European peers to re-enter Libya.
About the signing:
According to a LinkedIn post by Libya’s National Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil and Libya’s NOC signed a Memorandum of Understanding in London on 4 August.
The MoU covers four offshore blocks along the northwestern coast near the prolific Sirte Basin.
The MoU was signed by Masoud Suleiman, Chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation, and John Ardill, ExxonMobil’s Vice President for Global Exploration.
ExxonMobil and NOC will jointly conduct geological and geophysical evaluations of these four blocks.
This marks a significant step for ExxonMobil and Libya, as it represents the return of the largest American oil company to Libya.
Background:
ExxonMobil has pre-qualified to join Libya’s ongoing license round.
It is not known whether these four blocks are part of the 22 bid round blocks offered by Libya.
Libya is running its 2025 bid round with 22 blocks — 11 onshore and 11 offshore.
BP and Shell each signed an MoU for development opportunities in Libya recently.
What they’re saying:
“Today marks an important step towards ExxonMobil’s return to hydrocarbon exploration activities in Libya,” said John Ardill in his LinkedIn post.
“ExxonMobil (Esso) has a long and successful history of working in Libya,” added Ardill.
Mr. Suleman “emphasized the corporation’s commitment to expanding partnerships with major American energy companies, particularly ExxonMobil,” said the Libya NOC’s LinkedIn post.
Trend alert:
The Libya MoU is one of three recent international oil and gas deals ExxonMobil is trying to secure.
In July, ExxonMobil is reportedly negotiating to return to Iraq.
On 24 July, ExxonMobil was reported to be negotiating with the Trinidad and Tobago government to acquire up to 7 deepwater blocks, close to the Stabroek block offshore Guyana, according to Upstream.
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