BP Walks Away From $4.5 Billion Bid for Devon’s Eagle Ford Shale Assets

BP has walked away from a potential deal to buy Devon Energy’s Eagle Ford shale acreage in South Texas, according to Reuters, after spending several weeks studying an asset that analysts had valued at up to $4.5 billion. The decision closes, at least for now, an episode that would have marked BP’s first major return to US onshore shale buying since chief executive Meg O’Neill took over in April and began steering the company back toward oil and gas after years of emphasis on low-carbon investment.

A Data Room BP Knew Well

Devon opened a data room for the Eagle Ford package in late August as part of a broader push to sell non-core acreage following its roughly $58 billion merger with Coterra Energy. BP was among the parties that examined the assets, people familiar with the process told Reuters, and its interest was not incidental: BP’s own BPX Energy unit already operates in the same play through a legacy joint venture with Devon, giving it direct operational familiarity with the acreage it was evaluating as an outright purchase.

Analysts at TPH Research pegged the package’s value at around $4.5 billion, while other estimates circulating among bankers ranged from $3.5 billion to $4 billion. Devon’s Eagle Ford position produced about 77,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the second quarter of 2026, on roughly 90,000 net acres.

Balance Sheet Discipline Wins Out

BP said in a statement that its “five priorities” include a clear focus on strengthening the balance sheet, a reference to the roughly $20 billion divestment target it has been working through over the past 18 months as it pays down debt built up during its earlier renewables push. That target has largely kept BP out of the wave of US shale consolidation that has swept up rivals such as ExxonMobil over the past two years, and the Eagle Ford review appears to have run into the same discipline: after weighing the numbers, BP concluded the acreage did not clear its return bar at the price being discussed.

BPX Energy’s existing Eagle Ford output, at around 205,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, is already a meaningful piece of BP’s roughly 545,000 boepd of second-quarter US onshore production, which the company has targeted growing to more than 650,000 boepd by 2030. Adding Devon’s acreage would have accelerated that path, but evidently not at a valuation BP was willing to pay.

Devon Still Has a Buyer to Find

For Devon, the walk-away does not end the sale process. The Oklahoma City-based producer, which took on Coterra’s Permian and Anadarko Basin assets earlier this year, has said it is marketing both the Eagle Ford package and acreage in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin as it reshapes its portfolio around its highest-return positions. With BP out of the running, bankers say Devon is likely to keep the asset in front of other prospective buyers, including private-equity-backed operators that have been active bidders in Eagle Ford deals over the past year. The outcome also comes as US producers weigh output decisions against a policy backdrop in Washington, where officials have separately been debating a short-term ban on diesel exports to counter rising pump prices.

A Shift in Strategy Still Taking Shape

The episode is nonetheless a signal of where BP’s post-O’Neill strategy is heading, even if this particular deal did not close. Since April, the company has talked openly about rebuilding its oil and gas growth credentials, and entering a data room for Eagle Ford acreage — rather than simply commenting on rivals’ deals from the sidelines — shows BP is now willing to look seriously at inorganic growth in US shale, not only organic drilling on acreage it already holds. Whether that translates into a completed acquisition will depend on whether sellers’ price expectations and BP’s balance-sheet targets can eventually meet in the middle.

Sources

• BOE Report (Reuters), “BP explored deal for Devon’s Eagle Ford asset, sources say,” Sept. 25, 2026, https://boereport.com/2026/09/25/bp-explored-deal-for-devons-eagle-ford-asset-sources-say/ — deal timeline, valuation estimates, BP and Devon production figures, BP statement on balance-sheet priorities.
• The Motley Fool, “BP Walked Away From a Potential $4.5 Billion Bet on Devon Energy’s Eagle Ford Shale. Here’s What It Means for BP and DVN Stock,” Sept. 25, 2026, https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/09/25/bp-walked-away-from-a-potential-usd4-5-billion-bet-on-devon-energy-s-eagle-ford-shale-here-s-what-it-means-for-bp-and-dvn-stock/ — independent analysis of valuation range and strategic context.
• OilPrice.com, “BP Eyes Bigger U.S. Shale Footprint After Devon Deal Talks,” Sept. 2026, https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/BP-Eyes-Bigger-US-Shale-Footprint-After-Devon-Deal-Talks.html — context on BP’s broader shale-acquisition posture under CEO Meg O’Neill.

Illustrative image. Photo: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source