mergers and acquisitions

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.

Holding little back, speakers at the annual IHS CERAWeek conference in February discussed how the industry has been shaped by the disruptive impact of North American shale production and predicted that many more months of financial pressure will spell the end for some companies.