自页岩气繁荣开始以来，大量私人资本已投入国内。据分析师报告，自 2015 年以来，美国石油和天然气行业所有领域已达成 1,844 笔交易，投资总额达 3,270 亿美元。其中近三分之二的投资是在 2015 年至 2019 年期间进行的。

虽然活动量一直很大，但时间数据才是最能说明问题的。典型的私募股权基金的期限为 10 年，可能会延长几次，每次为期一年。这意味着大量投资的时间已经所剩无几。

为这些交易提供资金的有限合伙人 (LP) 完全期望私募股权普通合伙人 (GP) 能够收回他们的资金，甚至更多。近年来交易活动的火爆步伐无疑有所帮助，但仍有大量资产待售。

Huge sums of private capital have been invested onshore since the beginning of the shale boom. Since 2015, $327 billion has been invested in 1,844 deals across all segments of the U.S. oil and gas sector, according to analyst reports. Nearly two-thirds of that total was deployed from 2015 to 2019.

While the volume of activity has been strong, the data point on timing is the most telling. Typical private equity funds have a 10-year lifetime, with the possibility of a couple one-year extensions. That means the clock is running out on vast swaths of investments.

Limited partners (LPs) that provided the capital for those deals fully expect private equity general partners (GPs) to get their money back—and then some. The torrid pace of deal activity in recent years has certainly helped, but plenty of assets remain out there.