Diamondback Energy took one of the last major, privately held operators in the Permian off the table this week when it agreed to buy Endeavor Energy Resources for $26 billion. The deal is poised to catapult Diamondback into the top tier in the Permian, the most prolific oil patch in the U.S. that stretches from western Texas into southeastern New Mexico. The top six companies in the Permian are set to own 62% of the basin's remaining oil reserves, according to Rystad Energy. The stubborn holdouts After the Diamondback-Endeavor and Occidental-CrownRock deals, the only other major privately held producers left in the Permian are Continental Resources and Mewbourne Oil. Conoco could potentially seek to acquire Permian Resources , Civitas , Coterra, Vital Energy or Ovintiv , Bernstein said.

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Persons: Matthew Bernstein, Bernstein, Hess, Andy Lipow, Neal Dingmann, Mewbourne, Dingmann, Ovintiv, Enerplus, Bob Yawger, Yawger, weren't, Ryan Lance, Lance, Conoco, EOG Organizations: Diamondback Energy, Endeavor Energy Resources, Diamondback, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Rystad Energy, Truist Securities, CRFA Research, Endeavor, CNBC, Exxon, Natural Resources, Occidental, Lipow Oil Associates, Resources, Mewbourne, Continental, Publicly, Civitas, Coterra, Vital Energy, Devon Energy, Marathon Oil, Bloomberg News, Marathon, Reuters, CFRA, ConocoPhillips, Mizuho Locations: U.S, Texas, New Mexico, Guyana, Devon, Bakken, North Dakota, Occidental, Mizuho Americas, Marathon