Ovintiv explores $2 billion Uinta basin business sale to focus on Permian shale operations

(Bloomberg) – Ovintiv Inc. is considering a possible sale of its operations in the Uinta basin, which could fetch as much as $2 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Denver-based Ovintiv is working with an adviser to gauge buyer interest in the asset, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

Ovintiv’s operations in the Central basin of Utah involves drilling in about 2,600 feet of oil saturated reservoir rock, according to its website. The asset could attract interest from private equity-backed energy groups, the people said.

Deliberations are in the early stages and there’s no certainty they’ll result in a transaction, the people said. A representative for Ovintiv declined to comment.

Ovintiv’s shares have fallen 12% over the last 12 months, underperforming the S&P 500 Energy Index and giving it a market value of about $11.2 billion. The company’s assets are spread across Texas, Oklahoma, Utah and Canada.

Selling its Utah assets would free up Ovintiv to focus on the Permian basin, the western hemisphere’s most productive shale fields that straddle Texas and New Mexico, where the driller last year expanded its footprint with a $4.3 billion acquisition from EnCap Investments. The company last year also completed the sale of assets in the Williston Basin of North Dakota for $825 million.

Deal spree. Oil production in Utah has climbed nearly 40% since the end of 2022 as demand for its waxy crude increased from Gulf Coast refineries which use it to make lubricants. SM Energy Co. recently agreed to buy assets from XCL Resources LLC in a $2.6 billion deal to expand in the basin.

But any deal will likely involve heavy scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, which has previously expressed concern over the reliance of refineries in Salt Lake City on the basin. The agency is reviewing several big deals in the oil and gas sector.

Still, oil and gas dealmaking has been on a tear this year, with activity far outpacing the broader rebound in mergers and acquisitions globally.

The value of deals in the sector has roughly doubled to $210 billion in 2024, Bloomberg-compiled data show, driven by multibillion-dollar transactions like Diamondback Energy Inc.’s agreed acquisition of Permian driller Endeavor Energy Resources LP and ConocoPhillips’s planned purchase of Marathon Oil Corp.

This week, Quantum Capital Group completed its $1.8 billion takeover of Caerus Oil and Gas assets in the Piceance and Uinta basins.

Lead image source: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg