mergers and acquisitions

Total’s acquisition of Maersk Oil includes holdings in the North Sea Johan Sverdrup and Culzean projects. Total will become the second-largest operator in the northwest Europe offshore region. Maersk’s strategy shifts to its transport and logistics division.

Peter Hays, a partner in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at law firm King & Spalding, says that stabilization in the oil market has helped the industry M&A business to recover.

Avoiding debt problems and maintaining high-quality operations have kept Frank Lodzinski’s companies going through thick and thin.

The merger of industrial giant GE and oilfield services firm Baker Hughes closed on 3 July, creating the second-largest oil field services firm in the world.

As the GE-Baker Hughes deal moves closer to finalization we now know who will be leading the combined company.

The offshore drilling sector has taken a step towards consolidating an oversupplied market and Ensco will emerge from this most recent deal as the owner of the largest combined fleet of floaters and jackups.

The recent upswing in M&As in the oilfield services sector may be a harbinger of more to come as operators push for capex and opex control.

A Houston-based energy consultancy concludes that a series of downturn deals have contributed more to the resiliency of the US shale sector than a rise in oil prices.

Schlumberger and Weatherford are forming a joint venture to tackle the North American unconventionals oilfield services market.

Merger and acquisition activity has been limited since prices started to fall in 2014. But there are signs that M&A activity may be building, and oil company management teams should think about which deal strategies they should pursue.