Exxon secures lead in top US oilfield

Woods: We are not looking at cutting either rig operations, people or headcount. We are looking at how to take the best of both operations and grow. — Bloomberg

HOUSTON: Exxon Mobil agreed to buy US rival Pioneer Natural Resources in an all-stock deal valued at US$59.5bil that would make it the biggest producer in the largest US oilfield and secure a decade of low-cost production.

The deal, valued at US$253 a share, combines the largest US oil company with one of the most successful names to emerge from the shale revolution that turned the United States into the world’s largest oil producer in little more than a decade.