Upstream M&A Quarterly Report: Q2 2024

• The US leads in deal volume (96) and value (USD 44 bln), as US shale assets continue to attract investors. In addition to ConocoPhillips’s acquisition of Marathon Oil, there were six deals involving E&P assets in the Uinta, Eagle Ford, Delaware, Midland, Marcellus, and Utica basins worth more than USD 500 mln each.
• In Europe, investment activity has been concentrated in the North Sea offshore the UK and Norway. The largest deal was the acquisition of Eni’s North Sea assets by Ithaca Energy (USD 933 mln), while the most active buyer was Norwegian supermajor Equinor, which farmed in or acquired stakes in five assets.
• In the MENA region, investors were driven by strategic considerations to expand their businesses. For example, Chinese companies were actively acquiring license areas in Iraq, while international supermajors (Chevron, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies) signed strategic agreements to develop E&P projects in Algeria.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, international supermajors are entering new promising offshore upstream projects and divesting downstream assets. Africa-focused independent companies (Africa Oil, New Age) are also active in expanding their businesses through asset acquisitions and attracting partners.
• M&A activity in Asia also tallies with the trend of supermajors divesting downstream assets and focusing on large upstream or integrated assets. Unlike in Sub-Saharan Africa, supermajors in Asia have not only acquired offshore E&P assets, but have also shown interest in the LNG segment.
• The largest cross-border deal in the CIS was the purchase of a stake in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz offshore gas condensate field, by Hungarian MVM, from the Southern Gas Corridor. Deal activity in the region was also driven by the distribution of E&P licenses in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.