Oil and gas producers SM Energy and Civitas Resources will combine in a $12.8 billion merger of near equals that will expand SM as a major producer in the booming Permian Basin. The two Denver-based energy players said Nov. 3 they are combining forces as the oil and gas industry continues to consolidate, and the most prized assets are the needed inventory and scale to continue drilling wells for decades to come. The merger is the biggest U.S. oil and gas acquisition since crude oil prices plunged in the b ...