Is This The Next Permian Mega Deal?

The Wall Street Journal reports that ExxonMobil, (NYSE: XOM), and Pioneer Natural Resources, (NYSE: PXD) are in preliminary discussions about a merger. There has been a good bit of M&A activity the last year or so in shale country. Quite a bit of which was in the Eagle Ford play in South Texas. I have discussed this activity in a couple of recent OilPrice articles, here, and here. Now it appears the liquids rich Midland, sub-basin of the massive Permian basin is drawing the acquisitive eye of companies looking to bulk up their acreage footprint.…