Devon Energy in talks to acquire oil driller Enerplus

(Bloomberg) – Devon Energy Corp., an Oklahoma City-based oil and gas company, is in talks to acquire Calgary-based driller Enerplus Corp., Reuters reported.

The companies have not come to an agreement, Reuters said, citing anonymous sources. It comes on the heels of a string of recent megadeals in the U.S. oil patch as companies push to line up future drilling sites.  Investors are eager to see mergers too as explorers can save money by pairing up and assembling contiguous drilling positions.

Enerplus shares surged as much as 10%. The company, which has a market value of about $4.1 billion, operates primarily in the Bakken shale basin of North Dakota and in the Marcellus region in Pennsylvania.

Devon is one of the biggest independent shale explorers in the U.S., with operations in five U.S. basins, led by its presence in the Permian basin of Texas and New Mexico. Buying Enerplus would complement its operations in North Dakota.

In October, Bloomberg reported that Devon was on the hunt for major acquisition targets. At the time, the company had held preliminary talks with Marathon Oil Corp. and separately was eying CrownRock LP, according to people familiar with the matter.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. reached an agreement in December to buy CrownRock for about $10.8 Billion.