US domestic M&A sent reeling

Deal-making across the oil and gas patch has slowed to a crawl despite a swathe of potential devalued assets and strained companies eager to divest

M&A activity in the Lower 48 states of the US has nose-dived this year, reflecting alarming economic conditions and lack of spare cash available across the sector. Chevron’s recent $5bn takeover of US independent Noble Energy was a rare example of a big-name player splashing the cash, in what has otherwise been an eerily quiet period for deal-making. Natural gas proved the most attractive segment in the first half of the year, despite Henry Hub gas pricing falling to record lows. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) recorded average monthly spot pricing for the first six months of 2020 at just $1.81/mn Btu, slumping to $1.63/mn Btu during June—the lowest level seen since at least