Deals of the Week: Pengrowth Makes $1.9 billion Move for NAL Energy Corp
In what was the biggest E&P deal of the week, fellow Canadian intermediate producers Pengrowth Energy and NAL Energy, combined to form a company which will reportedly be worth $6.6 billion. The deal will see Pengrowth acquire NAL in an all-stock deal, that values NAL at an enterprise level of $1.9 billion including approximately $600 .. read more
Deals of the Week: EP Energy Corporation and Cove Energy Find their Suitors
In a week where confidence has been returning to the oil market in tandem with the increasing oil price, two companies that have been in the shop window over the past few months have found willing acquirers. El Paso’s E&P division attracted the larger of the two bids of $7.15 billion from Apollo Global Management and .. read more
Deals of the Week: Total and Sinopec Make US Shale Moves as New Year Begins
US Shale was the big M&A headline-maker in 2011, and 2012 has started on the same track. Sinopec and Total were both involved in big money deals this week, spending a combined total of around $4.5 billion to enter emerging plays. Sinopec, one of 2011’s most active companies in the E&P acquisitions market, will be .. read more
Deals of the Week: ConocoPhillips is Biggest Spender in First Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Since Horizon Disaster
This week, the Gulf of Mexico held its first lease sale since the Horizon oil spill of April 2010. The Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 218 reaped a total of $337 million, with 20 companies gaining tracts. ConocoPhillips was the most prominent among the successful bidders, gaining the most tracts (75 – spending $159 .. read more
Deals of the Week: Total Plays it Safe in North Sea Whilst Peers Gamble on Nigeria
There were three large deals by super majors this week as Total played it safe by acquiring a producing North Sea asset whilst Royal Dutch Shell and ENI opted for a high risk but high reward asset in Nigeria. The North Sea acquisition concerns a 10.4% interest in the Elgin & Franklin fields previously owned .. read more
Deals of the Week: Dominion Petroleum Becomes Latest AIM Explorer to be Acquired
Dominion Petroleum became the latest small cap exploration company to be picked off this week by a larger peer. The share performance of pure exploration companies on AIM has been hit particularly hard by the drop in sentiment since April 2011 and even with a premium over the day prior price of 64%, investors who .. read more
Weekly Energy Round-Up: Mozambique Gas Block Hits 10TCF as Aminex Suffers Setback in Tanzania
Anadarko Optimistic for LNG Future in Mozambique The continuing exploration and appraisal campaign in the Offshore Area-1 block delivered further success following the completion of the Camarão well in the Rovuma Basin, Mozambique. This is the fifth major gas discovery to be drilled in the block, de-risking and adding to resources which operator Anadarko estimates .. read more
Deals of the Week: Hayward’s Vallares Announces Kurdistan Merger
Vallares Plc, the acquisition vehicle formed in June 2011 by former BP Chief Exec Tony Hayward and Nathaniel Rothschild, announced the $2.1 billion reverse takeover of Turkish company Genel Energy International Ltd this week. Not only is Genel the largest producer in the Kurdistan region, with production of around 41,000 boe/d, the company has major .. read more
Deals of the Week: ExxonMobil Replaces BP in Arctic JV with Rosneft
This week saw Rosneft potentially gain a new partner in the Kara Sea and Russian Arctic following the collapse of the BP agreement in May, after TNK-BP forced BP to cancel the deal through the courts. US giant ExxonMobil has stepped in with a total investment of $3.2 billion to gain a 33.3% interest in .. read more
Who’s Who in South Sudan, Challenges Facing the New State
With its independence, the newly-formed Republic of South Sudan (South Sudan) became Africa’s sixth largest oil producer and Sub-Saharan Africa’s Second. They received 75 percent of the former state of Sudan’s oil production as their territory holds the majority of producing blocks and the lion’s share of the proved reserves. CNPC, Petronas and ONGC are .. read more