Exxon Mobil ‘s (XOM) planned deal to buy Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) has sparked talk of more consolidation in the oil-and-gas industry. While we don’t own companies as mergers-and-acquisition plays, the potential for more tie-ups could have significant implications for our remaining oil name: Coterra Energy (CTRA). It’s unclear which shoe will drop next now that Pioneer — the largest independent producer in the Permian Basin, a key U.S. oil field in West Texas and New Mexico — is effectively off the market in an all-stock deal valuing the company at roughly $60 billion . But analysts expect the acquisition by Exxon, the most valuable U.S. oil-and-gas company at nearly $450 billion in market capitalization, to have ripple effects on producers of all sizes. “Consolidation is critical for the sector. It’s healthy. It’s needed, and I think you’ll see more of it,” said Gabriele Sorbara, an analyst at Siebert Williams Shank & Co. The consolidation could take multiple shapes, as companies seek scale and bolster the amount of quality land they own to drill on in the future. On the one hand, investors are looking at bigger U.S. players such as Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP), wondering whether they’ll follow Exxon’s lead and acquire smaller exploration-and-production (E & P) firms. Chevron’s market cap is around $324 billion, while ConocoPhillips is worth roughly $152 billion, based on Thursday’s stock prices. Another possibility could be that E & P companies further down the valuation ladder choose to pursue deals that make their own inventory positions more attractive to investors, according to Nitin Kumar, senior analyst at Mizuho Securities. Companies in this basket could include Coterra, Devon Energy (DVN) and Diamondback Energy (FANG). Coterra is valued at roughly $22.4 billion Thursday, while Devon and Diamondback are valued at $31.7 billion and $30.5 billion, respectively. “I’m not proposing there’s going to be a big wave of M & A, necessarily. But if scale is what matters, your options are limited,” Kumar said. He added: “You can choose to either go your own way…you can look at the small public guys and pick off a few assets there, or you could look at mergers of equals and say, ‘Hey look, let’s two of us get together and now we create a competitive position with 800,000, 900,000 acres into play.'” That would be roughly on par with Pioneer’s more-than-850,000 acres in the Permian Basin. “All those should be options that these guys should be thinking about strategically,” Kumar argued. Devon Energy is reportedly doing just that. In recent months, the Oklahoma City-based company has held preliminary talks with Marathon Oil (MRO) about a potential tie-up , Bloomberg reported after the close Wednesday , citing people familiar with the matter. Houston-based Marathon is valued at nearly $18 billion, as of Thursday. Devon has also eyed privately held CrownRock, which operates in the Permian, according to Bloomberg. In recent years, publicly traded E & P companies have adopted a more muted approach to production growth — bowing to investor pressure after spending heavily to pump more oil in the 2010s proved unkind to energy stocks as crude prices pulled back. Now, the priority is generating more sustainable cash flows that can be returned to investors through buyback programs and dividends. The shift has generally been positive for the stock prices of oil companies. Expense reduction is another way to satisfy investors, and is likely a major motivation behind any further consolidation that might occur in the sector, said Scotiabank analyst Paul Cheng. Smaller companies may not solve their inventory backlog problems by combining, Cheng said, “but that certainly could provide them additional room to reduce costs.” At the time the Exxon-Pioneer deal was announced, Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust owned a position in Pioneer. We sold our entire stake Monday, and will consider redeploying some of the cash into Coterra on future pullbacks in its stock price. Our investment in Coterra has been rooted in its attractive fundamentals as an E & P play with sizable exposure to both oil and natural gas — not its viability as a takeover target, or even a buyer itself. Indeed, owning Coterra in the hopes that a larger company may swoop in and offer a big premium would not be a wise strategy. That’s because a substantial premium might never materialize — as we saw with Exxon’s valuation of Pioneer. The industry’s newfound restraint on production makes it harder to justify paying up for a company, analysts say, compared with the premiums paid in the early days of the U.S. shale boom a decade ago. “If you go back to 2014, 2016, in those deals it was asset acquisition driven by growth. Today, it’s asset acquisition driven by not volume growth, but cash flow sustainability and longevity. It’s a little bit of a different motivator,” Mizuho’s Kumar said. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long CTRA. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Permian Basin rigs in 2020, when U.S. crude oil production dropped by 3 million a day as Wall Street pressure forced cuts.
Paul Ratje | Afp | Getty Images
Exxon Mobil‘s (XOM) planned deal to buy Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) has sparked talk of more consolidation in the oil-and-gas industry. While we don’t own companies as mergers-and-acquisition plays, the potential for more tie-ups could have significant implications for our remaining oil name: Coterra Energy (CTRA).
Taiwanese smart-scooter pioneer Gogoro is taking a step into more accessible territory with its newest model, the Ezzy. The company hopes to leverage its massive lead in battery-swapping technology while also bringing its smart scooters to a broader audience by lowering its price point.
Designed as a no-frills, budget-friendly ride that doesn’t skimp on modern conveniences, Ezzy is priced around NT$59,980 (around US $2,000). Once you add in the government subsidies from its native Taiwan, that price drops below NT$30,000 (around US $1,000). For Gogoro, this is the smartscooter distilled to its essential core: practical, connected, and ready for daily life.
The Ezzy looks like it is trying to build on Gogoro’s success with its 2024 Jego launch, the company’s previous forray into lower cost electric scooters. The Jego was a massive success and wound up resulting in around 40% of the company’s sales. Now the Ezzy looks to keep the good vibes rolling in a sleek, compact, and intuitive package.
The scooter features a rounded, minimalist body with a durable front panel and straightforward controls. Practicality is the guiding principle: a 68 cm (27 inch) long seat, spacious footwell, and a 28 liter (7.4 gallon) under-seat storage compartment, which the company says is large enough for two helmets – if they’re a 3/4 and a half helmet. Put it all together, and the features sound like they should make the Ezzy ideal for urban errands or weekend jaunts. Add in a built-in cupholder and flip-out footrests, and you’ve got a scooter designed to seamlessly slot into everyday routines with one or two riders aboard.
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The design is cute, but it’s under the panels where Gogoro usually tries to set itself apart. Ezzy is powered by a new hub motor capable of speeds up to 68 km/h (42 mph), high enough for city traffic while keeping maintenance low. The last time I was scootering around in Taipei, those speeds felt like plenty on the congested streets.
And while Gogoro’s scooters have long been impressive, the most important part of the company’s offerings isn’t even its rides, it’s how they’re powered. Ezzy integrates directly into Gogoro’s famed battery-swapping network, which includes thousands of swap stations around Taiwan.
Riders can skip charging downtime by swapping depleted packs at GoStation kiosks, which regularly see hundreds of thousands of battery swaps every day.
Electrek’s Take
In terms of performance, Ezzy strikes a balance. It’s not built for speed demons, but it likely won’t bog down in traffic either. It’s not overflowing with gadgets, yet includes thoughtful features that matter – cup holder, flip-out footrests, and room for two helmets. At around US $2,000 retail before subsidies, it’s clearly aimed at broadening access to smart two-wheeling in dense cities. And since the combustion engine scooters still dominate cities in most countries, making electric alternatives more affordable is a key part of displacing those heavy polluters.
This feels less like a normal launch and more like a strategic pivot for Gogoro. While the company’s premium Smartscooters – like the sports car-inspired Pulse or high-performance SuperSport – are impressive, they’re also spendy and niche. Ezzy, by contrast, looks like what Gogoro might want every city overpopulated by cars to embrace: a stylish, comfortable, and economical electric scooter that’s accessible to the masses.
It’s still early days and Gogoro hasn’t confirmed availability beyond Taiwan, but enthusiasm for affordable, swappable-battery electric scooters is growing. If Ezzy finds even moderate success in its initial market, it could pave the way for Gogoro to expand its smart ecosystem deeper into urban centers worldwide.
In short, Ezzy may not be a headline-grabbing performance machine, but that’s exactly the point. Sometimes progress happens not with fireworks, but with smart, thoughtful moves that make electric mobility more attainable for everyone. And that’s an evolution worth riding along with.
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The e-bike industry in the West has long been a tale of two territories. North Americans enjoy higher speeds and power limits for their electric bicycles while Europeans are held to much stricter (i.e. slower and lower) speed and power limits. However, things might change based on current discussions on rewriting European e-bike regulations.
New power levels are not totally without precedent, either. The UK briefly considered doubling its own e-bike power limit from 250 watts (approximately 1/3 horsepower) to 500 watts, though the move was ultimately abandoned.
But this time, the call for more power is coming from within the house – i.e., Germany. The Germans are the undisputed leaders and trend setters in the European e-bike market, accounting for around two million sales of e-bikes per year. Home to leading e-bike drive makers like Bosch, the country has yet another advantage when it comes to making – or regulating – waves in the industry.
And while there aren’t any pending law changes, the largest German trade organization ZIV (Zweirad-Industrie-Verband), which is highly influential in achieving such changes, is now discussing what it believes could be pertinent updates to current EU electric bike regulations.
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Some of the new regulations involve creating rules maxing out power at levels such as 400% or 600% of the human pedaling input. But a key component of the proposed plan includes changing the present day power limit of e-bikes from 250W of continuous power at the motor to 750W of peak power at the drive wheel.
The difference includes some nuance, since continuous power is often considered more of a nominal figure, meaning nearly every e-bike motor in Europe wears a “250W” or less sticker despite often outputting a higher level of peak power. Even Bosch, which has to walk the tight and narrow as a leader in the European e-bike drive market, shared that its newest models of motors are capable of peak power ratings in the 600W level. That’s still far from the commonly 1,000W to 1,300W peak power seen in US e-bike motors, but offers a nice boost over an actual 250W motor.
Other new regulations up for discussion include proposals to limit fully-loaded cargo e-bike weights to either 250 kg (550 lb) for two-wheelers or 300 kg (660 lb) for e-bikes with more than two wheels. As road.cc explained, ZIV also noted that, “separate framework conditions and parameters must be defined for cargo bikes weighing more than 300 kg (see EN 17860-4:2025) as they differ significantly from EPACs and bicycles in their dynamics, design and operation.” Such heavy-duty cargo e-bikes, which often more closely resemble small delivery vans than large cargo bikes, are becoming more common in the industry and have raised concerns about cargo e-bike bloat, especially in dedicated cycling paths.
It’s too early to say whether European e-bike regulations will actually change, but the fact that key industry voices with the power to influence policy are openly advocating for it suggests that new rules for the European market are a real possibility.
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China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.
The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.
The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.
China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.
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To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.
To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.
The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.
As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.
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