Acquisitive

The merger of Norway’s Statoil ASA and Norsk Hydro ASA will create not only the world’s largest offshore oil and gas company, but an acquisitive-minded player that is expected to wield a much bigger stick in developing the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), analysts said Monday. In the past two years, the companies have spent a total of about $6 billion buying GOM assets.

Volatility in commodity prices hasn’t stopped acquisitive-minded producers from paying top dollar to buy companies and build reserves in the past year. And even with the recent pullback in prices, energy analysts don’t expect to see a slowdown in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) anytime soon.

Volatility in commodity prices hasn’t stopped acquisitive-minded producers from paying top dollar to buy companies and build reserves in the past year. And even with the recent pullback in prices, energy analysts don’t expect to see a slowdown in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) anytime soon.

Now turning its acquisitive eye to Kansas, Midcoast Energy Resources Inc. plans to acquire Kansas Pipeline Co. (KPC), MarGasCo Partnership (MarGasCo) and other related assets.

Acquisitive Calpine Corp. stuck to its strategy last Friday,saying it agreed to buy 80% of the Minneapolis, MN-basedCogeneration Corp. of America (CGCA) for $145 million. The proposedacquisition will increase Calpine’s gas-fired energy production to2,476 net MW of capacity, representing a 20% jump in production.Calpine expects to complete the deal in January.