Houston-based Devon Energy’s acquisition last February of Coterra Energy sparked fireworks at the time. While the all-stock merger created a $58 billion giant and one of the largest independent producers with a combined 750,000 net acres in the sweetest spot of the Permian Delaware, investors began tapping their watches. As in, it’s time to reduce debt and streamline your portfolio by selling the mostly inherited non-core assets in the Marcellus, Eagle Ford, Anadarko, and Powder River as part of the acquisition. Oh, and by the way, what’s your plan going forward post-merger?

Reese Energy Consulting is following the latest news today from Devon, which has been under the gun ever since ink met paper on the Coterra deal. The company in May emerged as the largest bidder in a quarterly BLM lease sale, snapping up 24 parcels across 16,297 net undeveloped acres in the N.M., Delaware in a Permian First strategy to build its position. A tennis clap maybe by shareholders, but the pressure continued to mount for Devon to shed non-core assets and provide a clearer post-merger plan.

Come September and activist Toms Capital, one of Devon’s top five shareholders along with Kimmeridge, urged Devon to explore the sale of the whole company and let the buyer handle the disposition of its non-core assets. But Devon isn’t having it. At least not yet.

After a flirtation by BP that vaporized in a matter of days, Devon has now found a solid buyer for its Eagle Ford assets in Houston-based Crescent Energy. The $4.2 billion deal includes 90,000 net acres across four counties and brings significant Tier 1 inventory adjacent to Crescent’s existing operations. Whatever decisions lie ahead, we stand with Devon to make the best ones. They’ll always be an Okie.