The Diamondback rattlesnake is one of several species of vipers found in West Texas and N.M. But among them, there’s only one in the Permian Basin that’s neither reptilian nor bites with venomous purpose. That would be Diamondback Energy, of course, whose subsidiaries include Rattler Midstream and Viper Energy. C’mon, you can’t get cleverer than that while building a Permian brand. But you can marvel at this company’s extraordinary success as a Midland, Texas-based producer, midstreamer, and royalty asset owner.

Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest from Diamondback’s Viper, which closed earlier this year on the $4.45 billion acquisition of its parent company’s Permian mineral interests. But Viper’s appetite to amass more large-scale acreage to expand its mineral and royalty empire in the Permian was hardly sated.

The company has now made another strike with the acquisition of Denver-based Sitio Royalties. The all-stock $4.1 billion deal with Sitio creates a bigtime position for Viper with a pro forma, 85,700 net royalty acres in the Permian Delaware and Midland, Eagle Ford, and DJ and Williston basin. Consolidation among oil and gas royalty and mineral interest companies is afoot, and Diamondback’s Viper is sealing that business with a fat kiss.