U.S. oil and gas companies spent a combined $250 billion in mergers and acquisitions last year. More than half of that came from just two megadeals Exxon's acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron's takeover of Hess Corp. The buying spree, according to analysts, was mostly motivated by a drive to secure future production at a relatively low cost while there's cash in the bank after the record-breaking 2022. Analysts have commended the attitude to energy supply security.
' Yet, according to the Democrat group of critics calling on the FTC to investigate deals, 'It is now even clearer that there is an anticompetitive pattern developing as Big Oil corporations race to consolidate the Permian Basin and other key American oil fields, and the FTC must take this pattern into account as it assesses each individual transaction.