Deals

Following an overall paltry return for Lower 48 oil and gas property sales in 2019, the dealmaking market may be looking for a repeat, as well-financed operators prowl for quality assets at bargain prices, according to energy data specialist Enverus.

Enthusiastic investors set a torrid pace for U.S. energy dealmaking in the first quarter, breaking the record for first quarter deal values, according to a tally by PwC.

The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA) said this month that it tracked the largest-ever amount of capital investment in the 10-county region surrounding the city in southwestern Pennsylvania last year, attributing most of the $10.2 billion recorded to shale gas-related growth.

The number and volume of natural gas transactions — according to FERC Form 552 submissions from up to 680 respondents — were in decline during 2008 to 2014 and flattened in 2015. However, that trend has improved somewhat in 2016, executives with two price reporting agencies (PRA) said in Houston on Tuesday.

As basis differentials erode with new pipeline expansions and reversals coming online, 2017 could see capacity markets shift to increasingly shorter- or longer-term trades, according to new analysis from Skipping Stone and Capacity Center.

Dealmaking across the U.S. oil and natural gas sector, particularly in the onshore, has begun 2017 “with a green flag and a full tank of gas,” following a surge in activity during the fourth quarter, PwC researchers said Tuesday.

Operators attempting to buy into the Permian Basin now may have to go big or go home, because most of the oil- and natural gas-rich acreage in West Texas and southern New Mexico is now within the grasp of public and privately held explorers.

U.S. upstream transactions to date have nearly doubled in 2016 following a seven-year low in 2015, triggered by a surge of Permian Basin activity, oil and gas researcher 1Derrick said Tuesday.

Last year was the slowest in eight years for dealmaking in the U.S. natural gas and oil patch, and tepid sales activity continued through the first quarter, according to researchers.