WPX Energy

WPX Energy

WPX Energy was formed in 2011 as a spin-off from Williams Companies, with a mandate to focus on oil and natural gas exploration and production. Rick Muncrief has served as CEO since 2014, leading the company through significant operational shifts including the divestiture of legacy assets and a pivot toward the Permian Basin. The company's capital deployment strategy centers on low-cost drilling in the Delaware Basin (Permian) and Bakken Shale (Williston Basin), with a portfolio that includes oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. WPX Energy drills horizontally in stacked pay zones, targeting multiple intervals from a single well pad. In 2019, WPX announced a joint venture with Anadarko Petroleum (now Oxy) to develop acreage in the Delaware Basin. The company exited the San Juan Basin in 2020, selling its remaining assets there to focus on higher-margin regions. WPX Energy traded publicly on the NYSE under the ticker WPX until it was acquired by Devon Energy in a $2.56 billion all-stock deal announced in September 2020 and completed in January 2021. The combined entity operates under the Devon Energy name. Post-merger, WPX Energy no longer exists as a standalone entity. The firm's team and operational footprint were absorbed into Devon's organization. WPX Energy's structural differentiator was its stacked-pay drilling model in the Delaware Basin, targeting multiple intervals (Wolfcamp, Bone Spring, and Avalon) from single well pads to improve capital efficiency. This approach allowed the company to generate higher returns per acre compared to single-zone operators, though it was ultimately consolidated into a larger competitor.