Oil and Gas Execs Anticipate More Acquisitions in Next Year

Mining Weekly reported that a recent survey from EY shows that over two-thirds of oil and gas execs see themselves pursuing an acquisition in the next year. That’s up 10 percentage points from deal expectations reported in April of this year.
As quoted in the market news:

Deal volume in the oil and gas sector in the first three quarters of 2015 was dismal, with activity falling nearly 40% from the same period in 2014. Furthermore, deal value through the third quarter of 2015 had also fallen below comparable levels for 2014 and 2013, EY reported, taking into account that nearly 70% of the year-to-date’s value derived from a single transaction with Shell acquiring the BG Group.
However, EY noted that nearly 90% of oil and gas executives expected the merger and acquisition (M&A) market to improve in the next 12 months, which was a sharp increase from 50% of respondents a year ago.
“Declining M&A activity in the oil and gas sector in the first part of the year resulted from, in part, a lack of quality assets on the market. That’s changing and now we’re seeing companies looking at multiple acquisitions,” said EY global oil and gas transaction leader Andy Brogan.

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