一年多以来，美国本土 48 个州上游产业整合的迅猛步伐吸引了业内人士和外部人士的关注。随着勘探与生产领域趋势的持续发展，金融专家正在权衡这一周期与之前周期的不同之处，以及它将如何重塑该行业的格局。《石油和天然气投资者》主编 Deon Daugherty 与顶级能源银行家进行了交谈，其中包括 CrossFirst Bank 的 Mike Dombroski、Texas Capital 的 Marc Graham、BOK Financial 的 Jason Reimbold 和 Comerica 的 Jeff Treadway，以了解他们对整合动态及其对金融、企业和运营方面的影响的见解。

Deon Daugherty：您认为勘探与生产领域在此次整合周期中处于什么位置？是否还会有更多整合？如果有，会以何种形式出现？

CrossFirst 的 Mike Dombroski：在我们所在的领域——我们称之为中低端市场（股权价值 2000 万至 2 亿美元）——大部分都是私营公司，我们因整合而失去了大部分上游交易。2023 年对我们来说是艰难的一年，我们很难跟上步伐。感觉就像在仓鼠轮上，不断发现市场上有人想出售，而 [我们] 不得不替换这些贷款。

The Lower 48’s frenzied pace of upstream consolidation has captured the attention of the industry and outsiders alike for more than a year. As the trend’s sweep of the E&P space barrels forward unabated, financial experts are weighing how this cycle differs from previous iterations and how it may reconfigure the sector’s landscape. Oil and Gas Investor Editor-in-Chief Deon Daugherty talked with top energy bankers, including Mike Dombroski of CrossFirst Bank; Marc Graham of Texas Capital; Jason Reimbold of BOK Financial; and Jeff Treadway of Comerica to gather their insights into the consolidation dynamic and its implications on financial, corporate and operational fronts.

Deon Daugherty: Where do you believe the E&P space is in this consolidation cycle? Is there more to come, and if so, in what form?

Mike Dombroski, CrossFirst: In the space we play in—I would call it the lower middle market ($20 million to $200 million equity)—where it’s mostly private companies, we’re losing most of our upstream deals to consolidation. 2023 was a tough year for us just to keep pace. It felt like we were on the hamster wheel, constantly finding out somebody who’s in the market was looking to sell and [we were] having to replace those loans.