U.S. oil major Marathon said Monday it spent $888 million to acquire a rival that has a strong portfolio in the shale oil basins of Oklahoma. Marathon Oil Corp. signed a deal to acquire PayRock Energy Holdings, which held about 61,000 acres of land in the Anadarko shale reserve area in Oklahoma. Marathon Oil President and CEO Lee Tillman said the acquisition “will meaningfully expand the quality and scale of Marathon Oil’s existing portfolio in one of the best unconventional oil plays in the United States.” Acreage held by PayRock was in the so-called STACK area of the Anadarko basin. In May, Continental Resources, one of the largest shale players in the United States, said it […]