Diamondback Energy, Inc.

What does Diamondback Energy own?
Diamondback owns roughly 840,000 net acres of Permian Basin leasehold, 3.6 billion BOE of proved reserves, and the wells that produced over 1 million BOE/d in late 2026. It also owns a controlling stake in Viper Energy (NASDAQ: VNOM) and all of Rattler Midstream.

Is Diamondback Energy publicly traded?
Yes. It trades on NASDAQ under the ticker FANG and is a component of the S&P 500. Its affiliate Viper Energy trades separately under VNOM.

When was Diamondback founded?
The company was formed in 2007 in Midland, Texas, backed by Natural Gas Partners, and went public in October 2012. It became the largest pure-play Permian producer through the September 2024 Endeavor merger.

Who founded Diamondback Energy?
Travis Stice, a petroleum engineer, led the company from formation through May 2025 and now serves as executive chairman. Kaes Van't Hof, formerly CFO, is the current president and CEO.

What is Diamondback's market position?
Diamondback is the largest independent producer operating exclusively in the Permian Basin and one of the top five US oil producers by volume. Its market capitalization was approximately $55 billion in late 2026.

Does Diamondback own Endeavor Energy?
Yes. Diamondback completed its merger with Endeavor Energy Resources on September 10, 2024, in a transaction valued at approximately $26 billion including debt. Endeavor operates as a wholly owned subsidiary.

Diamondback was formed in 2007 in Midland, Texas, backed by private equity firm Natural Gas Partners. Travis Stice, a petroleum engineer who had spent his career at ConocoPhillips and other Permian operators, led the company from the start. The strategy was to acquire Permian acreage cheaply, apply horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, and grow through bolt-on deals rather than exploration.

The company went public on NASDAQ in October 2012 at $17.50 per share. Through the mid-2010s it built positions in both the Midland and Delaware sub-basins of the Permian while peers chased acreage across multiple shale plays. Diamondback stayed single-basin, a discipline that later defined its identity.

Major deals built the scale. In 2018 Diamondback acquired Energen Corporation for approximately $9.2 billion in stock, its first transformational merger. In 2021 it bought QEP Resources and the Permian assets of Guidon Energy for a combined value near $4.5 billion, followed by FireBird Energy for roughly $1.6 billion in 2022. In 2022 it also took its midstream subsidiary Rattler Midstream private.

The Endeavor merger, announced February 2024 and closed September 10, 2024, was the defining transaction. Endeavor, founded by Autry Stephens in 1979, was the largest privately held Permian producer. The approximately $26 billion deal including debt roughly doubled Diamondback's acreage to about 838,000 net acres and made it the basin's largest pure-play operator.

Diamondback kept consolidating. It acquired Double Eagle IV's Midland Basin assets in April 2025 for $3.1 billion in cash plus about 6.8 million shares. It also sold non-core assets for $1.7 billion in 2025 and dropped the 1979 Royalties mineral subsidiary down to Viper Energy for $873 million in cash plus 69.6 million Viper units.

Operationally, FY2025 set records: 463 wells drilled and 503 completed at an average lateral length above 12,100 feet, with efficiency gains that let 15 rigs do work that had required 22. In Q3 2026, reported November 2, 2026, production reached 1.034 million BOE/d and revenue was $5.43 billion, up 38% year over year.

Diamondback publishes annual sustainability reporting covering flaring intensity, methane emissions, produced water management, and safety. The company has reduced routine flaring to a small fraction of produced gas and reports methane intensity below the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative benchmark for its peer group. It is a member of the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 framework.

Produced water is the dominant environmental issue for all Permian operators. Rattler Midstream operates recycling and disposal infrastructure intended to reduce reliance on fresh water for completions and to manage the seismicity risk associated with deep injection disposal in parts of the basin.

Induced seismicity is the industry's most serious regulatory exposure in the Permian. Earthquake activity linked to wastewater injection has increased in the Delaware Basin, and Texas regulators have curtailed disposal volumes in designated response areas, raising costs for operators including Diamondback. The company reports that the majority of its disposal occurs in areas not subject to current curtailments.

Environmental groups have criticized Permian methane emissions basin-wide. Satellite and aerial surveys have periodically identified large emission events across the basin's operator base, and Diamondback, like peers, has increased aerial and continuous monitoring in response.

The Endeavor merger drew antitrust review from the Federal Trade Commission, which cleared the deal in 2024 after an extended second-request investigation. Separately, the FTC's 2024 action barring Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield from ExxonMobil's board over OPEC communications intensified scrutiny of Permian executive conduct across the sector.