A weekly update on issues important to the oil and gas industry
Oil and gas analysts use many different metrics to explain and compare the value of an oil and gas company, specifically an exploration and production (E&P) company. The most popular metrics (at least according to our eyeballs) include EV/Production, EV/Reserves, EV/Acreage, and EV/EBITDA(X). In this post, we will dive into the EV/Production metric, and explore its most popular uses.
On June 3, 2025, Viper Energy, a subsidiary of Diamondback Energy, Inc., announced its plan to acquire Sitio Royalties in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $4.1 billion. The acquisition includes Sitio’s roughly 34,300 net royalty acres, 25,300 of which are concentrated in the Permian Basin. The Viper-Sitio merger represents a notable shift in strategy within a traditionally fragmented sector. It signals a move toward greater scale, operational leverage, and investor confidence in the royalty business model.
The energy industry is at a critical point, where producers must not only meet the ever-growing global energy demand resulting from population growth, industrialization, and the increasing electrification of uses, but also adapt to ever-changing environmental regulations and shifting societal expectations related to sustainable practices.
On June 4, 2025, Hart Energy hosted its annual Energy Capital Conference, which brought together capital providers and industry executives for an update on the funding that drives the oil and gas segment of the energy industry. In this week’s post, we recap how the conference reflected this crossroads in the industry and summarize key topics, including capital allocation and the outlook for M&A and LNG.
Mercer Capital has its finger on the pulse of the minerals market. The most recent Mineral Aggregator Valuation Multiples Study is now available.
Amid the uncertainty in oil markets, for the past year or so, optimism and valuation metrics for natural gas producers have steadily been rising. According to data from Mercer Capital’s quarterly Value Focus: Exploration and Production, reports whereas a year ago show cash flow multiples (or sometimes referred to as EBITDAX in the oil and gas industry) for both oil and gas producers tended to centralize around four (4) to five (5) times, lately, publicly traded gas producers have EBITDAX multiples in the low- to mid-teens, while predominately oil producing companies’ multiples have dropped.
This has been a dramatic change in the past year compared to the industry’s history. While onshore producers of oil and gas have many similar operational and economic traits, such as the shrinking inventory of top tier wells, this decoupling is representative of a fundamentally different outlook for the future of each commodity.
Choosing an industry expert to value your oil & gas company has several distinct benefits that stem from a deep understanding of the sector’s unique dynamics, trends, and complexities. Selecting a valuation expert to assess your oil & gas company brings a distinct set of advantages rooted in their specialized training, adherence to recognized standards, and a focused approach to valuation. So, which should you choose?
In this post, we make the case for both and provide a solution to this question.
Following our post last week in which we covered the latest changes and trends facing oilfield services (OFS) companies, this week we focus on how to value these companies. Understanding the value of an oilfield services (OFS) company is by its very nature a complex matter. Having a firm grasp on the many similarities and distinctions between these businesses is crucial for performing valuations. In our whitepaper, Understanding Oilfield Services Companies & How to Value Them, we provide invaluable guidance in regard to these aspects of the OFS industry.
In our Energy Valuation Insights from recent weeks, we addressed the challenges facing U.S. O&G drillers and covered the uncertainty in the overall O&G sector due to shifting world trade patterns. This week, we look at some of the same themes and how they are affecting in the Oilfield Services (OFS) industry. In particular, we cover changes related to the recent recovery in activity level, the influences of technological advances, the push for energy independence, and expectations going forward.
The Q1 2025 issue of Mercer Capital’s Exploration and Production Newsletter focuses on the Eagle Ford. Despite a notable rig count decline, Eagle Ford production generally remained about flat over the twelve months ended March 2025. Modestly declining commodity prices combined with the formation’s falling rig count pushed the region’s benchmark groups’ stock prices into single-digit declines over the review period. Although M&A activity in the Eagle Ford remained minimal, with only two material transactions over the last twelve months, the Eagle Ford remains the most fragmented of the major unconventional plays and provides substantial opportunities to build via acquisition.
Oil markets and energy companies are wrestling with understanding changes in domestic and international energy markets. As company outlooks become cloudier, uncertainty is on the rise. This has been developing for several weeks now, with some early indications showing that executives and investors don’t quite know how to respond yet. It appears it is going to take time for oil companies to figure out what to do next.
