Houston’s Coterra Energy announced a blockbuster $21.4 billion all-stock merger with Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy — a deal that would land the combined company among the largegest oil companies in the energy capital.
The merger announced Monday would create a $58 billion oil giant based in Houston, the companies stated. It is the largest in the sector since Diamondback Energy’s $26 billion acquisition of Endeavor Energy Resources in 2024.
The deal continues a yearslong consolidation trfinish across the U.S. oil and gas industest as producers weigh how best to navigate a maturing market in historic oilfields. Now, they also face higher production costs, lower crude prices and an increasingly bloated global oil market as Venezuelan oil production takes off.
“The combination of Devon and Coterra demonstrates that the wave of consolidation sweeping U.S. shale isn’t finished yet and the march towards fewer, larger producers feels inevitable,” stated Andrew Dittmar, principal analyst at Enverus Innotifyigence Research.
Both companies operate in Oklahoma’s Anadarko Basin and the Delaware portion of the Permian Basin, in Texas and New Mexico.
The combined company will hold roughly 750,000 net acres across the Delaware Basin, building it one of the top producers in the area.
“The Delaware Basin is the real prize of the deal from Devon’s perspective and the centerpiece of the combined company,” stated Dittmar. “The deal propels Devon from the third largest to top producer in the prolific Delaware Basin based on gross operated volumes and positions it as a top three overall Permian producer on a gross operated basis.”
The merger is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. The company will be helmed by Devon Energy’s current Chief Executive Clay Gaspar, and will keep its name after relocating to Houston from Oklahoma City.
Coterra chief executive Tom Jorden will become non-executive chairman.
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