2010's Key Trends in Oil and Gas Deals

Expect foreign state-owned oil and gas companies to focus on Canada’s shale plays after new federal government investment rules effectively precludes them from buying oil sands companies, according to AltaCorp Capital.

By Evaluate Energy:Some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world continued to venture into the less conventional regions of the world this week in their quest to locate their next megaproject. Fresh from their negotiation of exploration blocks in Kurdistan, ExxonMobil’s (XOM) next target materialised via a farm-in of Block LB-13 in the ultra deep waters offshore Liberia from Canadian Overseas Petroleum.

Evaluate Energy submits:The value of deals announced reached $45 billion in the global E&P sector during Q1 2011 -- a quarter in which the oil price broke through $100 per barrel on the back of increasing unrest in the North of Africa, and the world still clambered to get on board the movement towards shale resources. The total global upstream deal value of $45 billion is higher than all but three quarters over the past 3 years.

The value of deals announced reached $45 billion in the global Eamp;P sector during Q1 2011. A quarter in which the oil price broke through $100 per barrel on the back of increasing unrest in the North of Africa, and the world still clambered to get on board the movement towards shale resources. The total global upstream deal value of $45 billion is higher than all but three quarters over the past 3 years.

The rush to export liquefied natural gas from North American shores will help drive asset deals, mergers and acquisitions in 2013, part of a wave of global consolidation led by cash-flush national oil companies that could see several Canadian companies taken out. Watch for “bigger and bolder” moves by state-run behemoths this year, “as the share of oil and gas consumption by Asian countries continues to rise and pressure on Asian NOCs to ‘go global’ increases,” said Neil Beveridge, a senior analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in Hong Kong.

Some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world continued to venture into the less conventional regions of the world this week in their quest to locate their next megaproject. Fresh from their negotiation of exploration blocks in Kurdistan, ExxonMobil’s next target materialised via a farm-in of Block LB-13 in the ultra deep waters offshore Liberia from Canadian Overseas Petroleum.

Toby Shute submits:In December, domestic oil and gas deals started popping up like prairie dogs.

Bill Francis submits: With Reliance and Quicksilver (KWK) honing in on a Horn River Basin Joint Venture and this being Reliance's third major deal within the past 4 months, I wanted to look back at what the major acquisitions consisted of in the top 5 shale basins since the natural gas price collapse in 2008.