EUCI Blog

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The U.S. shale oil and gas sector is poised for a “new wave of consolidation” among small- and medium-sized producers facing an increasingly competitive landscape, according to industry consultant Rystad Energy. “Scale and efficiency are key catalysts for exploration and production (E&P) players who are seeking favorable business valuations,…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer Growth in spending and production in the U.S. oil industry are projected to slow over the next few years, after a boom in drilling and capital spending between 2015 and 2024, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) analysis. Upstream oil investments are on track to fall by nearly…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer Upstream oil and gas mergers and acquisitions opened 2025 with $17 billion in deals, the second-best start since 2018, but it was largely powered by one company. Prospects for the rest of the year are uncertain, according to Enverus Intelligence Research. Diamondback Energy dominated the quarter with its $4.08…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer The Trump administration’s goal of “energy dominance” and its mantra of “drill, baby, drill” have run into production limitations, economic uncertainty caused by the administration’s tariff policies, and increased output from OPEC+. In his first weeks in office, President Donald Trump issued executive orders to speed permitting, reduce regulations,…

By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer U.S. oil and gas upstream mergers and acquisitions reached $105 billion in 2024 – the third highest total in more than a decade – even as deals cratered in the second half of the year, according to Enverus Intelligence Research. In the fourth quarter of 2024, activity was $9.6…

U.S. oil and gas M&A tops $30 billion for the third straight quarter Energize Weekly, August 7, 2024 Oil and gas mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the second quarter of 2024 marked the third consecutive quarter of $30 billion or more in transactions, according to energy consultant Enverus Intelligence Research. Before this run, quarterly deals…

Global oil production to rise while demand falls, putting pressure on prices and investments Energize Weekly, July 10,2024 Increasing global oil production in the face of plateauing demand will put price pressures on producers and challenge the large capital investment the industry is making, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) annual market analysis and…

Big energy projects moving fast, face $150 billion a year in cost overruns, Bain & Co. says Energize Weekly, June 19, 2024 The scale and speed of the energy transition risks project delays and setbacks leading to cost overruns of 15 percent to 20 percent, equal to $150 billion a year, according to research paper…

ConocoPhillips-Marathon Deal Represents a Pivot June 04, 2024 The ConocoPhillips-Marathon Oil transaction represents a pivot in U.S. shale mergers and acquisitions, from deals focused on increasing exposure in a single key basin or play to acquiring a multi-basin operator. That’s what Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR) Principal Analyst Andrew Dittmar said in a statement sent to…

ExxonMobil will ‘still be producing oil and gas’ in 2050: CEO May 7, 2024 ExxonMobil (XOM) will still be producing oil and gas in 2050, the energy company’s CEO told Yahoo Finance on Monday, but fossil fuels will likely be a smaller part of the business. Darren Woods told Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi and Akiko…

Oil and gas mergers set to cool after a hot first quarter in 2024 with $51 billion in deals Energize Weekly, May 1, 2024 Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the U.S. upstream oil and gas sector in the first quarter of 2024 kept up last year’s record-setting pace with $51 billion in deals, but the…

Shale-Oil ‘Fracklog’ Shows US Oil Production May Be Slowing Apr 15, 2024 Shale explorers are drilling wells faster than they’re fracking them, a signal that US oil-production growth is slowing. Oil companies added to the number of drilled-but-uncompleted wells, known as the fracklog, last month for the first time in more than a year, according…