Global upstream deal values within oil and gas returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, while the largest volume of production changed hands in more than a decade, according to new data from Evaluate Energy.

The recovery in M&A was driven by rising demand and prices following a year of underinvestment in new supply, said Eoin Coyne, Evaluate Energy’s senior M&A analyst.

“2021 saw $144 billion in new upstream deals agreed,” said Coyne, co-author of Evaluate Energy’s latest annual M&A report. “This value is 53 per cent higher than the spend in 2020 and in line with the five-year average annual spend prior to 2020.”

The report — available here — analyzes the biggest deals of 2021, including green energy deals and investments agreed by traditional oil and gas majors.

 “Over four million boe/d of production changed hands around the world, which is the largest total since Evaluate Energy began tracking M&A deals in the oil industry 14 years ago,” added Coyne.

Included within the report:

• Woodside, Santos and BHP undertake multibillion-dollar international mergers;
• Pioneer, ConocoPhillips and Continental Resources make Permian acquisitions as Shell plc exits;
• Gas companies join the consolidation wave in the U.S.;
• Canadian deals are headlined by the merger of ARC Resources Ltd. and Seven Generations Energy Ltd., and the Cenovus Energy Inc. asset sale program;
• Shell, Eni and Chevron Corporation are among E&P majors to make significant green energy sector investments in 2021.

Download the free report here.