$19 billion in upstream deals worldwide in Q1 2021

Evaluate Energy’s latest report shows that global upstream M&A deal spending totalled $19 billion during Q1. Deal counts show an uptick on activity that reflect increased sector confidence and renewed appetite to consolidate/update portfolios as we emerge from the global Covid-19 lockdown.

“The aggregate value of deal-making in Q1 was 5% down on the $20 billion secured during the equivalent quarter last year,” said Eoin Coyne, report co-author and Senior M&A Analyst at Evaluate Energy. “Q1’s total was also 58% lower than the $45 billion seen in Q4 2020, but we did see several very large corporate deals towards the end of last year that skew the picture and make things seem more active than they really were.”

The Evaluate Energy report points to underlying activity telling a clearer, more complete picture:

The number of “significant” deals – Evaluate Energy defines these as deals with a value greater than $100 million – conducted in Q1 2021 (27) was only just below the number recorded in the first three quarters of 2020 combined (32).

Q4 2020 saw over $20 billion more in deal value than Q1 2021, but only three more of these significant deals.

Included in this quarter’s M&A report from Evaluate Energy:

• Canada outpaces the U.S. for upstream deals for first time since Q4 2014
• The largest deal of the quarter sees ARC Resources merge with Seven Generations Energy
• Equinor and Ovintiv both take large losses on U.S. shale sector sales
• North Sea deals return in Europe with over $15 billion in new agreements made since the start of Q4 2020
• A review of upstream companies making Q1 deals in green energy sectors, including Shell, BP and PKN Orlen among others