U.S. producers seeking greater scale in core operating areas drove global upstream M&A to $56 billion in Q1. Evaluate Energy data shows this is a 41% increase over the global quarterly average spend for the past five years. It was the second consecutive quarter where U.S. assets accounted for 90% of deal value. Six corporate mergers each valued at over $1 billion saw the acquirer add significant production in existing key operational areas, headlined by Diamondback Energy’s $26 billion deal in the Permian Basin to acquire Endeavor Energy. All six deals see the acquirer’s production base ..read more

Brazil’s Petrobras has taken huge steps to alter its risk profile over the past few years, bringing the company in line with oil and gas supermajors. The company is now planning increased investment in exploration, reserves replacement and production growth. Evaluate Energy data shows that Petrobras has radically altered its capital structure to a company now comparable (based on key risk ratios) to the world’s other largest oil and gas producers. Debt to capital employed ratios were once significantly higher than BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies. Petrobras is ..read more

Natural gas supplier Santos is evaluating structural options as it looks to unlock value for shareholders after its merger negotiations with fellow Australian LNG producer, Woodside Energy, failed. The two firms brought three months of talks to an end last month. Analysts suggest three options are now likely being assessed — a separation of Santos’s LNG assets from the firm’s other divisions, further assets sales, or another merger with an LNG portfolio player. Over the last three years, Santos’s total share of cash returned to shareholders have been among the lowest of other global gas export ..read more

Eni, Equinor and Repsol — three European majors with advanced climate strategies — are matching the low carbon investments of larger operators while spending less on oil and gas production growth and returning less cash to shareholders. Based on 2023 results, Eni spent $2.4 billion on low carbon, Equinor $2.1 billion and Repsol $1.5 billion. This compares to an average of $2.1 billion for the supermajors. Eni is committed to spending 70% of its capex on low carbon by 2030, Equinor 50%, and Repsol 40%. Source: Evaluate Energy and Evaluate Energy Documents Of the supermajors, only the Europeans ..read more

Renewable fuel projects are proving an attractive proposition for oil and gas operators seeking to diversify portfolios through equity stakes or outright purchases. Deals in the sector represent a wide range of fuels and technologies, including biomethane, biodiesel, sustainable aviation fuel, and e-methanol, emphasizing the diversity of low-carbon solutions interesting large-scale E&Ps. The past three years saw 44 renewable fuel deals involving E&Ps, based on Evaluate Energy data. This represents almost a quarter of the 191 worldwide renewable fuel deals spread fairly evenly between 2 ..read more

Looking beyond headlines related to profitability and shareholder returns, the latest round of quarterly results tells us that the supermajors will continue a strategy of growing near-term oil and gas production whilst maintaining flexibility in their levels of low carbon spending, as they look to assess the speed of energy transition. Total oil and gas production from Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell and TotalEnergies was broadly flat in 2023, based on Evaluate Energy data. The EU firms tended to lower production slightly on 2022 levels, while the US operators slightly increased ..read more

Europe remains the focal point for E&Ps investing in M&A power deals that utilize low-carbon solutions such as solar and offshore wind. E&P companies engaged in 231 power deals between 2021 and 2023. This represents around 10% of all power deals worldwide, according to Evaluate Energy data. Only 13 of these power deals involved fossil fuel-based technologies. Ninety-nine deals were targeted in Europe, followed by North America with 45. The data illustrates that many EU firms have moved into renewable power while U.S. firms focus on renewable fuels, hydrogen and CCUS. The five lead ..read more

The $26 billion acquisition of Endeavor Energy by Diamondback Energy is the fifth multi-billion-dollar corporate merger already in the U.S. this year and takes U.S. upstream deal spending to over $45 billion, according to Evaluate Energy data. Diamondback says the deal will almost double its Permian Basin production base to over 800,000 boe/d by 2025, as well as provide: A combined asset base of 838,000 net acres in the Permian Basin 6,100 pro forma locations with break evens at under $40 WTI Annual synergies of $550 million representing over $3.0 billion in NPV10 over the next decade Last ..read more

Global interest among E&P firms in Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) project deal-making is starting to ramp up. 95 CCUS-related deals have been announced over the past three years involving upstream companies based on Evaluate Energy data. This represents around 53% of all CCUS deals worldwide since the start of 2021, and 2023 saw the ratio increase to 63%. Equity financing and interest in project finance for CCS projects has increased significantly over the past 12 months, as national funding strategies start to emerge, according to the Global CCS Institute’s ‘Status of CCU ..read more

Securing and nurturing a qualified, sustainability-ready workforce is more crucial than ever amid the dynamic changes in the oil and gas industry. Many operators and services companies face a shortage of professionals equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge. Fortunately, innovative training programs are available today that can help build a workforce ready to meet the sustainability challenges and opportunities ahead. Evaluate Energy ESG Learning has released “Creating a sustainability-ready workforce within oil and gas” – a new whitepaper highlighting the vital role of training to at ..read more