Marcellus Assets Create New Financing Possibilities

BusinessEnergyMarcellus Assets Create New Financing PossibilitiesByDaniel Markind,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I am an attorney who writes about energy issues and our world.Follow AuthorJun 09, 2026, 10:03am EDTSeparation vessel at the Devon Enrgy SAGD plant under construction south of Fort MacMurray in north Alberta. (Photo by Adrian Greeman/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images)Getty ImagesJust a few short weeks after completing a $58B merger with Coterra Energy earlier in May, Devon Energy received an offer of $8B for its shale assets in the Marcellus region of Pennsylvania. The offer, from money manager Stone Ridge Asset Management, covers about 190,000 net acres and could become the largest asset-backed securitization funding ever attempted in the United States oil and gas sector. (Source).As noted in Business News Today, the Coterra merger gave Devon both assets and exposure across the Marcellus, Anadarko, Eagle Ford and Williston Basins, with the attendant risks and opportunities. Devon must now show that it can handle such varied assets, or else divest itself of those not related to its core business.The Marcellus assets are expected to account for approximately twenty percent of Devon’s 1.6M barrels of oil equivalent (boe)/day production forecast in 2026. (Source). Part of the importance of the Stone Ridge offer is that it provides a clear price point for Devon’s Marcellus assets, and not a theoretical framework for discussion of value. While Devon DEO Clay Gaspar has indicated that Devon might divert some non-core positions, the company recently has been in an expansion mode. On May 20 it was the biggest buyer of oil and gas drilling rights on federal land in New Mexico and Texas at an auction held by the federal government. In fact, Devon was responsible for $2.5B out of the total $4B sale, a record for such auctions.Regardless of whether Devon accepts the Stone Ridge offer, the fact of the offer...