After closing a $9.5 billion oil and gas megadeal that merged two oil and gas producers, creating the largest drilling program in the Permian Basin, M&A attorney Stephen M. Gill said he’s interested to see whether other large drillers will follow suit.

“Does it cause them to want to consider further consolidation in that area? That’s the question we have been asking,” said Gill, partner in Vinson & Elkins in Houston. “We haven’t seen anyone else shake free yet, but there’s an expectation other folks will start evaluating—particularly the bigger guys—saying, ‘Do we want to consolidate our position?’”