Dear Drilling Engineers….wait a second! News Flash!! PDC and SRC to merge in 0 premium, all stock transaction…”the Beatings” will have to wait until tomorrow.

Bloomberg picked this story up 2 weeks ago – which if you ask me – was a great “trial balloon” to the market. I’ll be honest, I don’t understand the securities regulations around that leak but if you were surprised by this deal, you aren’t paying attention (a lot like drilling engineers… but I’ll get to them later)

I worked closely with Lynn Peterson in 2010 when he was at Kodiak and I was at Enerplus- we were neighbors in the Bakken. He is smart, measured, and understands facts. That’s why In 2014 he agreed to an all stock – 0 premium deal with Whiting (this was the subject of my 2014 speech to the SPE in Denver: “The Death of the Bakken” but I digress). He’s done it again.

This merger makes total sense. PDC has struggled to integrate the Kimmeridge acquisition and with the political landscape in Colorado in particular calling for more scale- this achieves all the objectives: lower G&A, accretive to FCF, dilutes the % ownership of your activists and show that you are paying attention. This should be well received.

Maybe all the sitting, standing (and kneeling) Saturday is paying off!