Exxon Mobil, ($XOM (-1,65%) )plans to purchase Pioneer Natural Resources ($PXD )for approximately 58 billion US dollars. In the process, Exxon is expected to pay more than 250 U.S. dollars per share for the Texan takeover candidate.

The final contract is still pending and the terms could change, per Bloomberg. Representatives of Exxon and Pioneer have not yet commented.

A sale price of $250 per share would represent a premium of 16% to Pioneer's closing price on Thursday, before reports surfaced of talks between the two companies. This would leave Pioneer with at least 58 billion U.S. dollars value, .

This transaction would be the largest acquisition, 2023, and would also be the largest acquisition of Exxon since the merger with Mobil Corp. in 1999.

The acquisition of Exxon and Pioneer would give two of the largest landowners in the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico combine, which would make Exxon the dominant oil producer in that region. Permian Basin is one of the most "productive" oil fields in the U.S. and has a wide range of undeveloped sites that Exxon can bring on line quickly to keep pace with global demand.

With the future of medium-term oil demand uncertain due to the transition to renewables, the flexibility of Shale oil is attractive to companies like Exxon.

A potential sale of Pioneer could also attract interest from other companies with solid balance sheets in the shale sector such as Chevron ($CVX (-1,06%) )or Occidental Petroleum ($OXY (-0,54%) )

This move by Exxon is the result of years of efforts to make significant acquisitions in the Permian Basin that had not previously materialized due to unfavorable conditions.

Interest is particularly focused on Pioneer's future, as its founder and CEO
Scott Sheffield announced in April that he will retire at the end of the year. Sheffield has been with the company since the 1970s worked in the Permian Basin and is considered the architect of the Shale oil boom, which has turned the U.S. into an oil and natural gas giant.