Devon Energy (DVN) paid a steep price for "high quality" Permian Basin acreage in a record US federal oil and gas lease sale, a move that strengthens its inventory but may prompt investor scrutiny of valuation, RBC Capital Markets analysts said in a note Thursday.
Devon emerged as the dominant bidder in a $4 billion Bureau of Land Management auction spanning 74 parcels and 33,530 acres across New Mexico and Texas, marking the highest quarterly federal leasing total on record and far surpassing the prior $972 million peak set in 2018.
The company committed about $2.6 billion to secure roughly 16,300 net undeveloped acres across 24 parcels in Lea and Eddy counties in the Delaware Basin. That implies an average cost of about $161,500 per net acre, making Devon by far the largest single participant in the sale.
RBC said Devon "made a big splash" in the auction, noting that the acreage is high-quality, with a low 12.5% royalty rate, and should support strong economics.
However, RBC flagged the implied cost burden, estimating that under assumptions of 10,000-foot laterals and 24 wells per unit, the land cost works out to roughly $7-8 million per drilling location across about 306 locations, levels RBC described as "eye watering" versus historical Permian Basin deal values.
"We think this could draw mixed investor views, but DVN is likely evaluating significant asset sales post the recent CTRA [Coterra Energy] merger. We believe this is positive for DVN's inventory build in the Permian, but the price paid could draw investor scrutiny," the analysts said.
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