Oasis Petroleum and Whiting Are Close to Merging: Report

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Oasis Petroleum

and

Whiting Petroleum

could announce an all-stock merger early this week, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A combination of the rival North Dakota shale drillers would be worth about $6 billion. Oasis (ticker: OAS) has a market value of $2.8 billion; the market cap of Whiting (WLL) is nearly $3.3 billion.

Following the close of trading Friday, Oasis shares have gained 14.7% in 2002 as oil prices have soared (early Monday, West Texas intermediate crude oil was at $124.25 a barrel, up 7.5%, as the U.S. and its allies were considering a ban on Russian oil). Whiting shares have risen 29% year to date.

In premarket trading Monday, Oasis was rising 6.4% to $153.69 and Whiting jumped 7.9% to $89.99.

Whiting Petroleum was the first major oil-and-gas company to file for bankruptcy during the pandemic. It emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020.

Oasis Petroleum filed for bankruptcy in September 2020, and emerged from bankruptcy that November.

Barron’s sent emails to both companies early Monday for comment on the Journal report but hasn’t received a reply from either off-hours.

Write to Joe Woelfel at [email protected]