Global upstream M&A: 2018 in review Report

Insight 24 January 2019

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Report summary

Global upstream M&A activity was weak in 2018. Deal count fell 11% year-on-year and only just squeezed past the 2015 nadir. Disclosed deal spend of US$110 billion was the lowest total since 2004. Late-year volatility in commodity and equity markets was partly to blame. Until the final quarter, M&A activity was on course to be flat year-on-year. But Q4 deal count dropped to its lowest level since Q1 2015. Yet, the year was not without its highlights – corporate consolidation surged; spend on tight oil-focused deals soared; BP transformed its unconventional portfolio, and Shell reached its US$30 billion disposal target. This Insight contains a summary of high-level trends and major deals in the upstream M&A market during 2018. We also highlight things to watch for in 2019, based on key potential transactions currently in our Deal Pipeline.

Global trends
- Valuations
2018 Corporate highlights
- Majors
- Acquisitions
- Disposals
- Corporate Service Large and Mid Caps
- Acquisitions
- Disposals
- NOCs and State-OwnedEntities (SOEs)
- Other Public E&Ps
- Private and PE
Regional review and outlook
- North America
- Capital discipline tempers asset acquisitions
- Tight oil consolidation underpins US activity
- Gulf of Mexico proves an attractive market for buyers
- Canadian consolidation spreads beyond the oil sands
- Rest of the World
- Europe
- Corporate combinations provide standout deals
- U.S. IOCs retreat
- PE fine-tuning
- Asia and Oceania
- Africa
- Middle East
- Latin America
- Russia and the Caspian
Appendix 1: Additional tables and charts
Appendix 2: Methodology
- Scope of coverage
- Implied Long-Term Oil Price Methodology
- Benefits of the Implied Long-Term Oil Price Methodology
M&A Service

Tables and charts

This report includes 38 images and tables including:

FY 2018 deals
2018 Global upstream M&A deal count
2018 Global upstream M&A deal spend

2018 upstream M&A spend by primary deal location and buyer peer group
Movement in regional M&A deal count
Movement in regional M&A deal spend
Deals with disclosed consideration greater than US$1 billion in 2018
Top ten unconventional resource weighted deals in 2018
Top ten Majors disposals in 2018
Annual upstream M&A spend, by buyer peer group
Annual upstream M&A spend, by seller peer group
Annual upstream M&A spend, by deal type
Monthly upstream M&A spend, by deal type
Deal count, by valuation band
M&A spend, by valuation band
Monthly deal count (three month trailing average)
Monthly deal count outside North America (three month trailing average)
Monthly deal spend, by deal type
Implied Long-Term Oil Price (deal by deal) vs. Brent oil price
Consideration / WM 2P reserves (US$/boe), by primary resource
Majors: disclosed A&D consideration, by company
Majors: total resource traded, by primary resource
North America: disclosed A&D consideration, by peer group
Rest of the World: disclosed A&D consideration, by peer group
Net M&A spend by company: top 15 buyers and sellers
North America deal count
North America deal spend
Value of N.A. deals in Pipeline, by resource theme
No. of N.A. buyers / sellers in Pipeline
N.A. tight oil spend, by play
N.A. uncons gas spend, by resource theme
2018 global upstream M&A spend by primary country, highlighting ten largest deals by volume
Rest of the World deal count, by region
Rest of the World deal spend, by region
Value of ROW deals in Pipeline, by resource theme
No. of ROW buyers / sellers in Pipeline
Implied Long-Term Oil Price vs. Traditional 'US$ per barrel' metrics