Consolidation Push Could Turn U.S. Oil Industry into Handful of Giants

What started as a pretty regular year in mergers and acquisitions in oil has turned into a year to remember after Exxon and Chevron announced massive merger plans. Now, Occidental has followed suit, announcing a deal for Permian producer CrownRock, leading some analysts to predict that the consolidation in the oil space could leave the industry with just a few big players by the end of the decade. Wood Mackenzie this week reported that the value of mergers and acquisitions in the Permian play since the start of the year has hit a record…