I keep going back and forth on this one. On paper, the Callon deal gave APA a much bigger Permian footprint and more scale, which sounds great if oil prices stay strong. But I’m still not convinced it actually made the company better long term.
The debt load got bigger, integration risk is real, and it kinda feels like APA is doubling down on being another shale-heavy E&P instead of focusing on the Suriname upside everyone was excited about.
At the same time, bulls are saying the combined company should generate way more free cash flow and operate more efficiently once everything settles.
I was hoping to get some thought on this topic.