Gas deals hit $183 bn in 2010 Global oil, gas deals hit $183 bn in 2010: Wood Mackenzie Read more on »wood mackenzie|oil|bpSINGAPORE: Global oil and gas deals returned to a peak of $183 billion in 2010, on strong interest in unconventional resources, portfolio adjustments by international oil firms and overseas expansion by Asian companies, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said on Wednesday.
Small companies are expected to scale down exposure in the Gulf of Mexico while large firms will consolidate depending on regulatory and legislative changes following a massive oil spill at BP's Macondo field last year, Luke Parker, lead analyst for Wood Mackenzie's M&A Service said in a statement.
The consultancy expects these factors to drive global mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas sector this year.
"The M&A market returned to peak levels in 2010 and the healthy deal activity at the end of the year bodes well for 2011," Parker said.
"Competition for growth assets was intense, and supportive of value in the vast majority of deals."
Investment in U.S. shale gas continued a steady increase in the past five years, rising to $39 billion, or 21 percent of global deals, as buyers took advantage of weak gas prices, he said.
Spending on Canadian oil sands also rose on year after acquisitions by Total, BP , Devon and Asian companies.
National oil companies (NOCs) spent $16 billion more than oil majors and "for the first time made real headway in the U.S. and Canada," Parker said.
NOCs from China, Korea and Thailand invested $35 billion in overseas acquisition in 2010.
"This peer group is focused on long-life resource capture - hence the attraction of LNG, deepwater, unconventional gas and heavy oil - so we can expect more non-operated stakes, aggressive buying overseas and potentially some big-ticket acquisitions in 2011," he said.
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