Whiting, Oasis complete merger, renamed Chord Energy

Whiting Petroleum and Oasis Petroleum completed their $6 billion merger, creating a scaled unconventional US Rocky Mountains Williston Basin oil producer with top-tier assets across 972,000 net acres in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana, the companies have said.

The company had combined first-quarter production of 171,100 b/d of oil equivalent production, Chord said in a July 1 statement, making it one of the largest Williston producers.

Pro forma oil production for second quarter is expected at 88,600-90,400 boe/d, while pro forma total output is estimated at 156,400-158,800 boe/d.

Chord plans to concentrate on the Williston Basin, after each separately sold out of other basins in 2021. Whiting exited the DJ Basin, while Oasis divested its Permian basin properties after entering that basin in December 2017.

"Chord will execute a focused strategy to enhance value delivery to our shareholders and maintain a strong commitment to safety, gas capture and emissions reduction," company CEO Danny Brown said. "Chord [has] "a premier Williston Basin position, a peer-leading balance sheet, significant scale and enhanced free cash flow generation, [and] is positioned to succeed."

While the company's acreage is spread over both North Dakota and Montana, it is mostly in North Dakota.

Trades on Nasdaq

Chord, headquartered in Houston, said its common shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol CHRD on July 5.

On July 5 in midmorning trading, the shares were trading at $101.25. Previous close on July 1 was $109.30.

The merger partner companies selected as the new name for their combined entity Chord to signify -- as occurs in music -- the joining of separate units with complementary strengths that create a harmonious blend stronger than would occur if they remained separate.

The transaction should be accretive to key per-share metrics that include E&P cash flow, E&P free cash flow, return of capital and net asset value.

Chord expects to realize cost savings of at least $65 million/year by second-half 2023.

The company expects to return 60% of its free cash flow to shareholders in H2 2022 through its base dividend, variable dividends and share buybacks and has a $150 million share repurchase program in place.