The week is shaping up to be a buzzy beehive of news with a steady stream of 4Q earnings reports, more Permian Magic 8 Ball readings (this really needs its own Netflix reality series), and a seductive siren song in the Bakken.  

Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest news from a midstream band that’s made more hit records than the Rolling Stones. Tulsa-based pipeline giant Williams closed the curtains on a record-breaking 2023 with a 60% increase in 4Q net income at a kingly $3.273 billion. Following its $1.95 billion acquisition in late December, WMB has now been crowned the Gulf Coast’s largest natural gas storage owner. It’s shiny new prize also happens to include an interconnect to Williams’ pipeline behemoth, Transco.

Just when you thought we had a half-moment to catch a breath on mergers, speculators are flushed with fever to decipher the next takeover target in the Permian. One of the more interesting scenarios we’ve read: With the ink not even dry on this week’s $26 billion deal by Diamondback for Endeavor, FANG may now be considered aged filet mignon for the likes of Exxon, Chevron, or ConocoPhillips.

Then there’s Okla. City-based Devon, which we covered yesterday, whose Permian Delaware assets make up the lion’s share of its revenue. With a 2024 mantra to scale up its shale resources, Devon needs to make a hit record of its own for shareholders, which will include more investment in its golden goose. But for now, the company is looking North to the Bakken, where it’s flirting with an acquisition of Calgary-based Enerplus in what would become another mega merger and more than double Devon’s production there. That is, according to one speculator, if Enerplus doesn’t snap up Devon first.