Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM), Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (RDS.A): Pitiful Pumps

Another potential route is to team up with Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) on some of its domestic assets as well. Chesapeake has more than $4 billion worth of joint ventures with TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT), Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. (ADR) (NYSE:SHI), and CNOOC Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CEO), and Chesapeake may be keen to sign another partnership to help foot the bill to develop some of Chesapeake’s shale assets. This could also be attractive to the integrated majors because Chesapeake has prime acreage in almost every shale play in the U.S., which could provide a decent production bump on the cheap.

What a Fool believes
Of the companies mentioned, it would appear that Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is in the best position to make a deal. However, bringing the Angola LNG facility recently and the big capital tied up in Gorgon and Wheatstone may give management pause before making any big moves. Also, BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP)’s large cash hoard might stay on the books for a while until everything related to the Deepwater Horizon is cleared up, so making a big purchase is probably not a top priority right now.

Overall, though, there are several opportunities for a major oil company to swoop in and grab assets here in the U.S., so don’t be surprised if we see a deal sometime soon.

The article Big Oil: Who Will Make a Big Buy Next? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Tyler Crowe has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow him at Fool.com under the handle TMFDirtyBird, on Google +, or on Twitter: @TylerCroweFool. The Motley Fool recommends Chevron and has the following options: long January 2014 $30 calls on Chesapeake Energy.

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