U.S. oil producers are grappling with prolonged low oil prices and the uncertainty created by the pandemic. 'I do believe that the golden age of the mega deals in oil and gas may be gone,' an analyst says.
Now things have stabilized, with crude prices hovering around $40 a barrel — down from about $60 at the start of the year.
Consolidation of U.S. shale producers, in particular,"seems inevitable," says Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit and author of the forthcoming"The wild ride and lower prices in the oil market since the coronavirus pandemic began in March has made this even more urgent," he says.Andrew Dittmar, an analyst at Enverus, says mergers and acquisitions activity in the most recent quarter was remarkably low.
"I don't expect just a kind of rampant consolidation, although it probably would be healthy for the industry," she says. Instead, she expects more bankruptcies.There's a much larger uncertainty about the oil industry's future: Successfully fighting climate change would mean a shift away from fossil fuels. Carmakers are going electric and renewable energy is on the rise.
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