Let’s pretend you operate in the Middle East. Maybe it’s a profit engine like it is for Exxon, Chevron, Eni, and other big players Then, just when you thought your 2026 oil and gas strategy was analyzed to the nth degree, blessed by the board, and declared launch-ready, along comes an unexpected event. One that rocks the entire industry. For the largest producers with operations in this slice of the world, the conflict spillover has caused oilfield, refinery, and LNG facility shutdowns. And let’s not forget the choke point at the Strait of Hormuz that’s left countries scrambling to find fuel supplies.

For U.S. independents, the Big Disruption could either keep their plans this year running full speed ahead or requiring adjustments should the war continue to spread and escalate. Reese Energy Consulting today spotlights a couple of the most recent announcements from independent producers that are ready-set-go with their plans.   

We start with Midland, Texas-based Permian Resources and news that might’ve been eclipsed by the situation abroad. After 700 (!) transactions last year which expanded its Delaware position to 480,000 net leasehold acres and 105,000 net royalty acres across the basin that bears its name, PR has eyeballs on large divestiture packages it believes will soon come to market. With $3 billion allocated for M&A over the next year or two, Permian Resources remains a master dealmaker and consolidator that could find sweet opportunities in a time of upheaval.

Fort Worth-based U.S. Energy Development Corporation, which operates in 13 states and Canada with a significant position in the Permian, reports it could well spend $2 billion on M&A on an annual basis within the next three years. The company’s CEO believes it can increase the company’s current 40 MBOED to 100 BOED within the next five years. Is it business as usual in the U.S., a time to adapt and mutate, or opportunities ready to be seized?