Diversified, Carlyle Buy Camino Anadarko for $1.175B

Diversified Energy Company and The Carlyle Group's Global Credit platform have agreed to acquire oil and natural gas properties in Oklahoma's Anadarko Basin from Camino Natural Resources for $1.175 billion, the operator confirmed in a May 6 disclosure. The deal expands Diversified's Oklahoma footprint to over 450 undeveloped locations and pushes pro forma Anadarko production toward 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day at closing.

What the $1.175B Buys in the SCOOP, STACK, and Merge

The transaction covers roughly 101,000 net acres concentrated in the SCOOP, STACK, and MERGE plays of central Oklahoma, with more than 100 drill-ready locations averaging 80% working interest. Current net production is approximately 300 million cubic feet equivalent per day, or 51,000 boe/d. The commodity mix runs 55% natural gas, 30% natural gas liquids, and 15% oil. Total proved reserves come in at about 1,478 billion cubic feet equivalent, according to the Diversified investor disclosure.

Henry Hub front-month natural gas was changing hands at $2.907 per million British thermal units in late-morning trading on the CME on May 22, while West Texas Intermediate crude traded near $96.60 per barrel. At those strip levels, the gas-weighted package layers steady cash flow against Diversified's existing Appalachian and Anadarko pumping inventory.

Carlyle Anchors With an Asset-Backed Structure

Carlyle takes approximately 60% of the producing assets through a newly formed special-purpose vehicle, with Diversified retaining 40% and operating control. The SPV will issue investment-grade asset-backed securities tied to underlying production cash flows. Diversified keeps 100% of the undeveloped acreage and contributes roughly $210 million of net equity from its senior secured bank facility.

The structure mirrors prior Carlyle-Diversified collaborations and isolates the long-duration producing reserves from Diversified's balance sheet. Akhil Bansal, head of asset-backed at Carlyle, said the partnership 'demonstrates what's possible when structuring expertise and long-term capital are paired with a best-in-class operator,' in the joint announcement.

The Per-Acre and Per-Flowing-Boe Math

Oil Authority synthesis: the implied valuation breaks down at roughly $11,634 per acre and approximately $23,000 per flowing Mboe. Against the 1,478 Bcfe of proved reserves, the headline price equates to $0.79 per Mcfe, well inside the typical $1.00 to $1.50 Mcfe range that has cleared private Anadarko PDP packages over the past year, reflecting both the gas-weighted cut and the off-balance-sheet financing benefit Carlyle's debt unlocks.

Diversified disclosed a forward-twelve-month EBITDA multiple of approximately 3.0 times, consistent with the depressed multiples for declining-gas package buyers visible across the Permian Midland and Hugoton segments in 2025 and 2026.

A Different Animal Than Devon's Delaware Splurge

The Camino package contrasts with the higher-cost, oil-weighted basin transactions dominating recent Permian headlines. Devon Energy's $2.6 billion Delaware Basin lease win earlier this week paid up for federal acreage with three-stream oil dominance. Camino's package is the inverse, gas-dominant, deep mid-continent, and built around long-life proven decline curves rather than greenfield exploration upside.

Wood Mackenzie research has highlighted that the Anadarko has quietly absorbed close to $9 billion of recent acquisition and divestiture activity, including Canvas Energy's $550 million sale to Diversified last September, signaling continued private-capital rotation into mature gas plays as LNG export demand expands.

What Closes, What Doesn't

Camino retains ownership of the Chickasha development zone, which the company is currently delineating with a multi-pad horizontal program. Closing is targeted for the third quarter of 2026, subject to Hart-Scott-Rodino review and customary adjustments.

Diversified chief executive Rusty Hutson Jr. said the company is 'excited to again partner with Carlyle' to acquire 'high-quality assets,' per the joint release. The next test for Diversified will be whether the Camino wells extend the company's signature shallow declines while feeding gas into the rising 2027 LNG export wave.