Permian operator Callon Petroleum mulls options amid buyer interest

(Bloomberg) — Permian Basin operator Callon Petroleum Co. is considering strategic options amid takeover interest from rival oil and gas players, people familiar with the matter said, as dealmaking accelerates in the U.S. energy industry.

The Houston-based company has been working with an adviser to study possibilities including a potential sale, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the information is private. Callon shares rose 2.9% to $32.59 at 11:15 a.m. in New York, giving the company a market value of about $2.2 billion. They’re down 12% for the year. 

No final decision has been made and Callon could opt to remain independent, they said. Representatives for Callon couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. 

Oil and gas companies have been increasingly looking to consolidate in order to add scale and cut costs, underscored by ExxonMobil Corp.’s $60 billion deal for Pioneer Natural Resources Co.

Like Pioneer, Callon is active in the Permian of West Texas and New Mexico, the biggest and most productive oil field in the country. The Permian has long been ripe for consolidation because it’s highly fragmented thanks to the scores of shale upstarts that have begun drilling there in the past two decades.