Upstream M&A deal flow could hit the highest in years in 2022 if commodity prices hold steady. Companies like Continental Resources, Pioneer Natural Resources, Diamondback Energy, Devon Energy, and EQT Corporation are slowly emerging as the mini-majors of the U.S. shale patch. The U.S. shale patch is on the verge of a new boom in mergers and acquisitions, in which companies that have expanded with recent deals are expected to continue growing via acquisitions of scale to build acreage and take advantage of the high oil prices, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing interviews with a dozen sources in the industry. Industry analysts and sources expect companies like Continental Resources, Pioneer Natural Resources, Diamondback Energy, Devon Energy, and EQT Corporation to continue making deals, emerging as the “mini-majors” of the U.S. shale patch, after European supermajors such as Shell divested their shale assets. Devon Energy, for example, has approached ExxonMobil […]