With operations in the Delaware, Anadarko, Eagle Ford, Powder River, and Williston, Okla. City-based Devon Energy is one of the nation’s top five largest independent E&Ps, producing about 575 MBOED. Following a merger of equals last July with WPX, Devon also became one of the largest players in the Delaware with 400,000 net acres and 394 MBOED in production.

Suffice it to say, the Delaware makes a lot of gravy for Devon where its production growth in 1Q increased 27%. So, it’s not surprising the company in May attributed its outstanding quarterly performance to the gravy-maker, along with commodity prices, of course. Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest news from Devon, which has surprised with a new acquisition—not in the Permian as one might have expected but in the Williston.

The $865 million all-cash deal for Denver-based RimRock Oil and Gas adds 38,000 bolt-on acres and 15 MBOED of production to Devon’s existing 85,000 net acres and 48 MBOED. Devon announced in May plans to bring online 15 to 20 new wells in the Bakken by the end of the year. Something tells us those plans could now be subject to change.