U.S. Shale Patch M&A Declines In Q3 To $12B

The U.S. shale patch recorded $12 billion worth of mergers in the quarter ended  Sept. 30, the lowest total in six quarters, Enverus Intelligence Research has revealed.  Andrew Dittmar, principal analyst at Enervus, has noted that some of the biggest buyers have become sellers, citing Occidental Petroleum's (NYSE:OXY) $818 million sale of properties to Permian Resources (NYSE:PR) and APA Corp.(NASDAQ:APA) divesting older properties to an undisclosed buyer. According to Dittmar, "Upstream M&A was bound to drop" after 2023's record…