Quick Take: Potential Sale of Exxon Mobil’s Bakken Assets

Exxon Mobil Corp. has been reported to be in the process of interviewing bankers to work on the sale of its assets in the Bakken shale play in North Dakota. Bloomberg News reported that insiders believe the sale price could be around $5 billion.

The oil giant has been in the process of cutting costs, generating about $3 billion from divestitures in 2021. In 2018, the company said it planned to generate $15 billion from the divesture of assets. Exxon Mobil launched a sale process for its assets in the Barnett Shale in November, which were expected $400 million-$500 million. In December, the company was reported to be in advanced talks to sell its 5,000 wells in the Fayetteville Shale to Presidio Petroleum LLC.

Rextag data shows that Exxon Mobil’s oil production in the Bakken fell by almost half, from 3.177 MMbbl per month in mid-2019, prior to the pandemic, to 1.763 MMbbl per month in late 2021. If Exxon Mobil does decide to pursue a deal, it would follow the $6 billion “merger of equals” between Whiting Petroleum Corp. and Oasis Petroleum Inc. on May 7.