They were just given a reason to be happy by Exxon Mobil. The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that the oil giant is on the edge of its biggest deal this century—a likely $60 billion acquisition of shale driller Pioneer Natural Resources.
This comes as crude prices have dropped by around $10 a barrel in the past 10 days. Exxon has, over the years, acquired additional businesses; however, the only two transactions that have come close to matching the magnitude of Pioneer have been the $75 billion merger with Mobil in 1999 and the $31 billion all-share acquisition of gas driller XTO Energy in 2010.
The announcement of the Mobil merger took place when oil prices were at a generational low, hovering at $11 per barrel. This was the largest merger that had ever taken place at the time.
