整合浪潮正在席卷充满挑战且瞬息万变的全球能源格局，碳氢化合物勘探与生产 (E&P) 和海上钻井领域的公司以及整个能源行业和供应链中的其他公司都在竞相确保自己在长期市场寿命中的顶级竞争者地位，以从全球能源需求激增中获益。

随着世界努力在能源安全和可持续性之间取得适当平衡，多种因素推动了新能源项目的发展。虽然脱碳在全球海上能源领域取得了进展，但这些进展尚未接近实现碳中和世界所需的水平。

许多人将绿色能源转型缓慢归咎于石油、天然气和液化天然气（LNG）项目，然而，供应安全仍然是主宰因素，并推动着化石燃料的发展，以满足日益增长的需求并维持电灯照明。

钻井平台市场和海上石油天然气领域的参与者越来越多地接受整合趋势，以寻求长久生存，这推动了对效率提升的探索，通过新的构建模块来丰富现有公司，并为长期创建规模化的联合实体。

去年完成的一项合并是康菲石油公司与马拉松石油公司之间的全股票交易，企业价值为225 亿美元，包括 54 亿美元的净债务。这将使前者获得后者的优质多盆地资产组合，该资产组合涵盖了美国最具竞争力的四个资源区：德克萨斯州的Eagle Ford 、北达科他州的Bakken 、新墨西哥州和德克萨斯州的Permian以及俄克拉荷马州的Stack and Scoop，以及赤道几内亚的综合天然气业务。

康菲石油公司预计，头三年内股票回购金额将超过 200 亿美元，第一年将超过 70 亿美元，同时还将回购 20 亿桶兼容资源。这家美国公司还预计，交易完成后的第一年将至少节省 5 亿美元的运营成本和资本。

2024 年披露了多起企业合并案，年内完成了多起并购案，但也有部分案子以失败告终。研究和能源情报公司Rystad Energy表示，去年开局强劲，创下了五年来全球上游交易规模最大的第一季度。该公司估计，在全球并购交易额突破 640 亿美元大关后，上游行业在 2024 年可能再出现 1500 亿美元的并购交易。

该公司强调，并购热潮代表了 2019 年以来第一季度最强劲的表现，与 2023 年第一季度相比增长了 145%，这主要得益于美国页岩油气领域的整合，今年第一季度北美地区的交易总额为 540 亿美元，约占全球总额的 83%，该地区将继续成为 2024 年剩余时间的驱动力，仍有近 800 亿美元的资产在市场上。

预计美国页岩油行业将成为推动并购活动的引擎，占市场资产总额的 66%，即略高于 520 亿美元。Rystad Energy 强调，埃克森美孚、雪佛龙、西方石油公司 (Oxy)和Diamondback Energy的投资组合调整将激发短期并购活动。

这些公司计划剥离非核心资产，为区域上游公司的增长铺平道路。雪佛龙计划到 2028 年出售约 100 亿至 150 亿美元的资产，而 Oxy 计划剥离 45 亿至 60 亿美元的资产。

Rystad Energy 上游研究副总裁Atul Raina强调： “二叠纪盆地近年来一直是并购活动的焦点，但随着该盆地可用资产变得稀缺，这种关注度正在逐渐减弱。”

“但由于需求仍然强劲，渴望交易的参与者正在盆地之外寻找收购机会。权力转移可能即将到来，非二叠纪资产将成为未来北美交易渠道的焦点。”

2024 年第一季度，美国以外的并购活动也保持强劲，交易额达 105 亿美元，同比增长 5%，其中石油和天然气上游石油巨头BP、雪佛龙、壳牌和道达尔能源领衔，合计交易额达 52 亿美元。对天然气生产资源的需求很高，约占 2024 年第一季度购买和销售的总资源量的 66%。 

全球并购领域以北美为主，但非洲也出现了引人注目的交易，交易额超过 53 亿美元，推动力来自石油和天然气上游巨头的推动，其中最大一笔交易是壳牌以 28 亿美元的价格将其在尼日利亚SPDC合资企业中的 30% 股权转让给复兴财团，其中包括约 5.2 亿桶油当量的天然气资源。

壳牌披露 出售其股份的 安排后 ，道达尔能源公司 在七个月后也采取了同样的举措，出售了合资公司的股份。此外，埃尼集团证实已与尼日利亚阿吉普石油有限公司 (NAOC)分道扬镳，后者被尼日利亚本土能源解决方案提供商Oando收购 。

该地区还见证了石油和天然气巨头对勘探机会的兴趣，道达尔能源收购了南非近海3B/4B 区块33% 的运营权益，并获得了纳米比亚近海两个区块的额外权益。

此外，南美并购在 2024 年第一季度加快了步伐，共计有价值 7.52 亿美元的资产易手，而此前经历了一段交易平静期，2023 年仅花费了 7.9 亿美元。巴西石油公司的撤资暂停被认为是导致下滑的主要原因。

根据 Rystad 的数据，这一停顿推动了区域增长机会，因为巴西上游公司正在寻求替代扩张计划，涉及巴西十大独立公司中的四家的合并谈判：3R Petroleum、PetroReconcavo、Enauta和Seacrest Petroleo。Enauta和 3R Petroleum leo e G谩s去年完成了合并。

鉴于对化石燃料的需求旺盛，包括阿布扎比国家石油公司、沙特阿美公司和卡塔尔能源公司在内的中东国家石油公司 (NOC)正在加强其天然气和液化天然气投资组合，以减少排放并实现国内经济多元化，摆脱对石油收入的依赖。阿布扎比国家石油公司和沙特阿美公司正在积极探索液化天然气领域的进一步扩张机会，包括在西方进行潜在投资。

因此，两家公司均在美国采取了收购行动。沙特阿美公司签署了一份不具约束力的框架协议（HoA），获得了位于德克萨斯州东南部的天然气液化和出口终端扩建项目的股权和承购权。而阿布扎比国家石油公司则签署了 液化天然气承购协议，并获得德克萨斯州 里奥格兰德液化天然气 （RGLNG）出口项目 的股权。

此后不久，这家阿联酋公司还在莫桑比克进行了首次投资，获得了Galp在4 号区块特许权使用的 10% 的权益 ，从而打开了进入莫桑比克鲁伍马 超大型 天然气盆地的大门。

过去一年完成的最大业务合并包括Harbour Energy收购 Wintershall Dea 和Noble Corporation 合并 Diamond Offshore。Harbour Energy 于 2024 年以 112 亿美元收购 Wintershall Dea 除俄罗斯资产外的所有上游业务资产，丰富了其石油和天然气投资组合，这要归功于与这家德国能源公司的股东 BASF 和 LetterOne 达成的协议。

Harbour Energy 首席执行官Linda Z Cook表示： “我们非常自豪能够完成 Wintershall Dea 的收购。这是我们自 2014 年成立以来第四次也是最具变革性的收购，也是我们继续打造一家大型全球独立石油和天然气公司、专注于安全、负责任地生产世界仍然需要的石油和天然气的又一大进步。”

今年海上钻井领域的亮点是两家美国海上钻井承包商完成合并，组建了一支由 41 艘钻井船组成的强大船队。因此，总部位于美国的 Noble Corporation 通过完成与 Diamond Offshore 的合并，创造了新的合并里程碑。

在各个地区、各种钻井平台日费率均有所上涨的上升周期背景下，这两家海上钻井公司的合并代表着海上钻井领域的又一次重大整合举措。

随着船队规模扩大和订单积压增加，根据钻井平台所有者的预期，最新的业务合并将为巨大的商业机会打开大门。随着这两家海上钻井公司合并，合并后的公司目前拥有 41 座钻井平台，订单积压金额达 67 亿美元。

“我们很高兴能够提前完成这项具有高度战略意义和增值性的交易，并开始我们的整合活动。我谨代表 Noble 董事会和员工欢迎 Diamond 组织的加入，并期待我们作为一个联合团队在未来的激动人心的旅程”， Noble Corporation 总裁兼首席执行官Robert Eifler强调道。

许多能源公司正通过并购来进一步整合市场。加拿大的Gran Tierra Energy就是其中之一，它决定通过 2.254 亿美元的并购交易收购i3 Energy 。

Gran Tierra 总裁兼首席执行官Gary Guidry解释说： “我们很高兴宣布此次收购，这标志着我们在加强资产基础的同时实现投资组合多元化的一个重要里程碑。

“通过整合这些高质量的运营资产，包括低衰减产量、大量现有资源和大量土地基础，我们不仅增强了我们的资产基础，而且还符合我们的长期战略愿景。”

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此外，阿布扎比国家石油公司钻井公司（ADNOC Drilling）、SLB和Patterson-UTI三家公司成立了Turnwell合资企业，开展初始的144口井计划，力争在2025年第四季度之前从这些井中开采出非常规石油和天然气资源，同时也表明第二阶段可能会有“数千口”井即将开采，而且这一计划也可能会加速实施。

阿布都拉赫曼·阿卜杜拉·阿尔塞阿里（Abdulrahman Abdulla Al Seiari）详细阐述道：“油井计划的加速推进证明了我们合资企业创新、协作和追求卓越的精神。” 

“Turnwell 不仅将释放阿联酋世界级非常规能源资源的巨大潜力，还将为全球能源行业树立新的标杆。我们很自豪能够在负责任地塑造阿联酋及其他国家能源的未来方面发挥带头作用。”

Furthermore, INEOS has taken steps to widen its U.S. deepwater oil and gas acreage by acquiring the Gulf of Mexico business from China National Offshore Oil Corp.鈥榮 CNOOC International, which represents its third large investment in America in the past three years.

While Serica Energy is set on enlarging its portfolio with two additional licenses in UK waters by acquiring a compatriot player, Parkmead, Kosmos Energy was contemplating a potential acquisition of Tullow Oil.

Honeywell has now brought into its fold the LNG process technology and equipment business from Air Products, thanks to a deal valued at $1.81 billion. TotalEnergies recently expanded its gas portfolio by adding more assets offshore Malaysia thanks to the acquisition of interests OMV and Sapura Energy held in SapuraOMV Upstream.

Nebula Energy will pick up the tab for its majority-owned AG&P LNG to become a member of the Australian LNG club by acquiring Venice Energy, which is developing an import terminal project in South Australia, described as the world鈥檚 first floating LNG (FLNG) import terminal envisioned to be powered by 100% renewable energy.

Woodside Energy added Tellurian to its portfolio and took over the U.S. firm鈥檚 proposed LNG terminal in Louisiana, United States, for which it is targeting final investment decision readiness for Phase 1 from the first quarter of 2025.

In addition, Helmerich & Payne鈥榮 move to acquire KCA Deutag is another example of further market consolidation. With a price tag of almost $2 billion, the business combination boosts rig fleet, global onshore drilling position, and footprint and exposure in America and the Middle East, seen as two of the biggest oil and gas-producing regions.

Some oil and gas players have seen opportunities for growth in combining their assets in a particular country to make the most of their portfolio in that region by establishing a joint venture company. To this end, Shell and Equinor have laid the groundwork on a quest to combine their offshore oil and gas assets in Great Britain, with the aim of creating the largest independent oil and gas player in the UK North Sea.

The merger encompasses 12 offshore fields and a range of exploration licenses on the UK Continental Shelf. However, Equinor will retain ownership of its cross-border assets and its offshore wind portfolio, alongside the hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, power generation, battery storage, and gas storage assets.

Shell will also keep its ownership interests in the Fife NGL plant, St Fergus Gas Terminal, and floating wind projects under development while remaining the technical developer of a project described as Scotland鈥檚 largest carbon capture and storage undertaking.

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BP and ADNOC Group, through XRG, have established Arcius Energy, bent on bringing to life a new regional gas platform, which will first focus on gas developments in Egypt. A few months ago, Eni joined forces with Ithaca Energy for upstream activities, thus becoming Britain鈥檚 second-largest oil and gas independent operator. The new entity will hold stakes in six of the ten largest fields and the top two largest undeveloped fields on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

The duo sealed the deal to combine the Italian energy giant鈥檚 upstream assets in the UK, excluding East Irish Sea ones and CCUS activities, with the North Sea operator鈥檚 portfolio, which is expected to allow them to strengthen their presence on the UK Continental Shelf.

Eni鈥檚 upstream assets in the UK waters are now part of Ithaca Energy, thus, the latter鈥檚 expanded portfolio holds stakes in six of the ten biggest fields and the two largest undeveloped assets on the UK Continental Shelf.

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Oil and gas companies have taken advantage of asset swap deals to bolster their main production and exploration hubs while offloading non-core assets. Woodside Energy and Chevron have embarked on a deal to exchange interests in core areas of operations and focus on strategic assets within the oil, gas, liquified natural gas, and carbon capture and storage domains in Western Australia.

OKEA and DNO have made similar arrangements to swap stakes in two prospects offshore Norway, which are on the drilling lists of rigs owned by Odfjell Drilling and Transocean, respectively. Two more Norwegian oil and gas players, Equinor and Petoro, have sealed a value-neutral asset swap agreement for multiple assets in the Haltenbanken area on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

Kjetil Hove, Equinor鈥檚 Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production Norway, sees the alignment of ownership around the larger production hubs as 鈥渋mportant enablers for long-term value creation.鈥�

The majority of Hess Corporation鈥榮 shareholders have voted in support of its proposed merger with Chevron amid arbitration claims brought forward by the company鈥檚 partners in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana, ExxonMobil Guyana and CNOOC, which filed cases before the International Chamber of Commerce to seek a right to a first refusal over any sale of the U.S. firm鈥檚 30% interest in the oil-rich offshore block under the existing joint operating agreement.

The duo鈥檚 business combination plans passed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust review. However, Hess鈥� Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was prohibited from joining the U.S. oil major鈥檚 board on the grounds of his alleged communications with global competitors, such as the OPEC cartel.

The completion of the merger remains subject to closing conditions, including the satisfactory resolution of ongoing arbitration proceedings, which ExxonMobil and CNOOC decided to file before the International Chamber of Commerce.

This arbitration revolves around preemptive rights in the Stabroek block joint operating agreement, as the duo is convinced they have a right to a first refusal over any sale of Hess鈥� 30% interest in the oil-rich offshore block in Guyana. The list of ExxonMobil鈥檚 six projects in this country includes Liza Phase 1 and Phase 2, Payara, Yellowtail, Uaru, and Whiptail. 

Steps are also being taken to get the required approvals for Hammerhead as the seventh deepwater oil project in Guyana, which will add between 120,000 and 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2029, raising the country鈥檚 overall production capacity bar to nearly 1.5 million bpd.

While both Chevron and Hess Corporation have welcomed the green light from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the antitrust review of their proposed merger, neither supports the FTC鈥檚 allegations concerning Hess鈥� CEO and his previous communications with global competitors such as OPEC cartel, but they still agreed he will not join the oil major鈥檚 board.

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赫斯的 Stabroek 区块合作伙伴就圭亚那海上资产的优先购买权提起的仲裁程序正在进行中，该程序让每个人都高度警惕，因为其结果仍然是一个未知因素，可能会破坏拟议的合并。

一些潜在的业务合并仍处于考虑的早期阶段，而其他传闻尚未得到证实。为此，Bumi Armada正在考虑与马来西亚MISC 集团 (MISC)的海上业务部门进行业务合并。

据报道， Transocean 目前正在考虑与Seadrill进行业务合并，这将形成一支由 49 座钻井平台组成的船队。前者拥有或部分拥有并运营着 34 座移动式钻井平台，其中包括 26 座超深水浮式钻井平台和 8 座恶劣环境浮式钻井平台，而后者运营着 15 座移动式钻井平台，包括 12 艘钻井船、一艘小众半潜式钻井平台和两艘恶劣环境钻井平台。

业内消息人士还表示，Valaris还可能与Seadrill合并，同时还将收购一些规模较小的公司，加入浮动钻井平台巨头的船队。

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应对石油、天然气和钻井行业不断变化的形势，既有独特的挑战，也有独特的机遇。尽管这些形势难以预测，有时有利于化石燃料项目，有时不利于化石燃料项目，但随着变革之风愈演愈烈，石油和天然气行业以及海上钻井行业和钻井平台市场正在适应海上能源格局的变化。

引入低碳甚至无碳世界的持久愿景不会面临消失的危险，因为现在的正常业务包括追求更多的碳氢化合物以及脱碳工具和能源转型推动者。

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A consolidation wave is sweeping across the challenging and shifting global energy landscape, as companies in the hydrocarbon exploration and production (E&P) and offshore drilling domains, alongside others across the entire energy industry and supply chain, race to secure their spots among the top contenders with a long market life span to benefit from a spike in global energy demand.

Multiple factors drive the development of new energy projects, as the world strives to strike the right balance between energy security and sustainability. While decarbonization is making inroads on the global offshore energy scene, these strides have not yet come close to the level needed to reach a carbon-neutral world.

Many place the blame on oil, gas, and liquified natural gas (LNG) projects’ shoulders for the slow pivot to green energy, however, security of supply is still running the show and fueling the development of fossil fuels to meet the growing demand and keep the lights on.

Players in the rig market and offshore oil and gas arena are increasingly embracing the consolidation trend on a quest for longevity spell, which is driving the search for efficiency enhancement to enrich with new building blocks existing companies and create combined entities of scale for the long haul.

One merger that closed last year was an all-stock transaction between ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil Corporation, with an enterprise value of $22.5 billion, inclusive of $5.4 billion of net debt. This will enable the former to get the latter’s high-quality multi-basin portfolio encompassing four of the most competitive resource plays in the United States: Eagle Ford in Texas; Bakken in North Dakota; Permian in New Mexico and Texas, and Stack and Scoop in Oklahoma, complemented by an integrated gas business in Equatorial Guinea.

ConocoPhillips expects share repurchases to exceed $20 billion within the first three years, with more than $7 billion in the initial full year, as well as two billion barrels of compatible resources. The U.S. player also anticipates at least $500 million of run-rate cost and capital savings within the first full year following the closing of the transaction.

Multiple business combinations were disclosed in 2024, with several mergers and acquisitions (M&A) completed during the year while some fell through. Last year kicked off with a bang, resulting in the biggest first quarter for global upstream dealmaking in five years, according to Rystad Energy, a research and energy intelligence player, which estimated the upstream industry could witness another $150 billion of M&A deals during 2024 after the global M&A deal value crossed the $64 billion mark.

The company underlined that the M&A buzz represented the strongest first-quarter performance since 2019 and a 145% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023, fueled primarily by consolidation in the U.S. shale patch, with deals in North America totaling $54 billion in the first quarter of the year, about 83% of the worldwide total, with the region continuing to be the driving force for the rest of 2024, with nearly $80 billion of assets still on the market.

America’s shale sector was expected to be the engine driving the activity with 66% or slightly more than $52 billion of assets on the market. Rystad Energy highlighted that ExxonMobil, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), and Diamondback Energy‘s portfolio adjustments were set to invigorate short-term M&A activity.

These players were planning to divest non-core assets, paving the way for growth among regional upstream players. While Chevron intends to sell approximately $10 billion to $15 billion of assets by 2028, Oxy plans to divest between $4.5 billion and $6 billion.

Atul Raina, Vice President of Upstream Research at Rystad Energy, underlined: “Permian has been the focal point for M&A activity in recent times, but that focus is waning as available assets in the basin become scarce.

“But with appetite still strong, deal-hungry players are looking outside the basin for acquisitions. A power shift could be on the cards, with non-Permian assets taking center stage in the future North American deals pipeline.”

The merger and acquisition activity outside the U.S. also remained strong in the first quarter of 2024, with $10.5 billion changing hands, a 5% year-on-year increase, spearheaded by oil and gas upstream oil majors BP, Chevron, Shell, and TotalEnergies, which collectively accounted for $5.2 billion. Demand for gas-producing resources was high, representing about 66% of total resources bought and sold in the first quarter of 2024. 

The global M&A arena was dominated by North America but Africa also saw notable activity, with transactions surpassing $5.3 billion, fueled by oil and gas upstream majors, with the largest deal being Shell’s divestment of its 30% stake in the SPDC joint venture in Nigeria to the Renaissance consortium, which includes about 520 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of gas resources, for $2.8 billion.

After Shell disclosed arrangements to sell its stake, TotalEnergies made the same move to offload interests in the JV seven months later. In addition, Eni confirmed that it had parted ways with Nigerian Agip Oil Company Ltd (NAOC), which was acquired by Oando, Nigeria’s indigenous energy solutions provider.

The region also witnessed oil and gas majors’ appetite for exploration opportunities, with TotalEnergies acquiring a 33% operated stake in Block 3B/4B offshore South Africa and an additional interest in two blocks offshore Namibia.

Furthermore, South American M&A picked up the pace in the first quarter of 2024, with $752 million worth of assets changing hands, following a quiet period of dealmaking as only $790 million was spent in 2023. Petrobras’ divestment halt was identified as the primary cause of the decline.

Based on Rystad’s data, this halt has fueled regional growth opportunities, as Brazilian upstream companies are pursuing alternative expansion plans, with merger negotiations involving four of Brazil’s top ten independents: 3R Petroleum, PetroReconcavo, Enauta, and Seacrest Petroleo. Enauta and 3R Petroleum Óleo e Gás wrapped up their merger last year.

Given the high demand for fossil fuels, Middle Eastern National Oil Companies (NOCs), including ADNOC, Saudi Aramco, and QatarEnergy, are bolstering their gas and LNG portfolios, allowing them to cut emissions and diversify their domestic economies away from a reliance on oil revenues. ADNOC and Aramco are actively exploring further expansion opportunities in the LNG sector, including potential investments in the West.

As a result, both players made acquisition moves in the U.S. While Aramco inked a non-binding heads of agreement (HoA) for equity and offtake from a planned expansion project related to a natural gas liquefaction and export terminal in Southeast Texas, ADNOC signed agreements for LNG offtake and an equity position in the Rio Grande LNG (RGLNG) export project in Texas.

Shortly afterward, the UAE firm also made its first investment in Mozambique for Galp’s 10% interest in the Area 4 concession, opening doors to Mozambique’s Rovuma supergiant gas basin.

Among the biggest business combinations that were completed over the past year are the Harbour Energy – Wintershall Dea acquisition and the Noble Corporation – Diamond Offshore merger. Harbour Energy enriched its oil and gas portfolio in 2024 by completing the $11.2 billion acquisition of Wintershall Dea’s all upstream business assets, bar Russian ones, thanks to the arrangements with the German energy firm’s shareholders, BASF and LetterOne.

Linda Z Cook, CEO of Harbour Energy, commented: “We are extremely proud to have completed the Wintershall Dea acquisition. It marks our fourth and most transformational acquisition since we were founded in 2014, and is another big step forward as we continue to build a large, global independent oil and gas company focused on the safe and responsible production of the oil and gas the world still needs.”

The highlight of the year in the offshore drilling segment comes with the merger completion between two U.S. offshore drilling contractors, which establishes a 41-strong rig fleet. Therefore, the U.S.-headquartered Noble Corporation tucked a new merger milestone under its belt by completing the combination with Diamond Offshore.

The merger between these offshore drillers represents another big consolidation move in the offshore drilling pool against a backdrop of an upcycle that brought higher day rates across all regions and for all rig types.

With the enlarged fleet and strengthened backlog, the latest business combination will open doors to strong commercial opportunities, based on rig owners’ expectations. As these two offshore drillers have become one, the enlarged company now has 41 rigs in its arsenal and a backlog of $6.7 billion.

“We are excited to close this highly strategic and accretive transaction ahead of schedule and commence our integration activities. On behalf of Noble’s board of directors and employees, I would like to welcome the Diamond organization onboard and look forward to our exciting journey ahead as a combined team,” highlighted Robert Eifler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Noble Corporation.

Many energy companies are pursuing further market consolidation by turning to mergers and acquisitions. Canada’s Gran Tierra Energy, which is among these players, decided to get its hands on i3 Energy through a $225.4 million merger.

Gary Guidry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gran Tierra, explained: “We are thrilled to announce this acquisition, which marks a significant milestone in diversifying our portfolio while strengthening our asset base.

“By integrating these high-quality, operated assets, including low-decline production, large resources in place and a substantial land base, we are not only enhancing our asset base but also aligning with our long-term strategic vision.”

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Moreover, three players, ADNOC Drilling, SLB, and Patterson-UTI, set up the Turnwell joint venture to undertake an initial 144-well program to unlock unconventional oil and gas resources from these wells by Q4 2025 while indicating the potential for ‘thousands’ of wells to be on the horizon in the second phase that may also be accelerated.

Abdulrahman Abdulla Al Seiari, Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC Drilling, elaborated: “The acceleration of the well program is a testament to the innovation, collaboration, and pursuit of excellence that will define our joint venture. 

“Turnwell will not only unlock the immense potential of the UAE’s world-class unconventional energy resources but will also set new benchmarks for the global energy industry. We are proud to lead the way in responsibly shaping the future of energy, both in the UAE and beyond.”

Furthermore, INEOS has taken steps to widen its U.S. deepwater oil and gas acreage by acquiring the Gulf of Mexico business from China National Offshore Oil Corp.‘s CNOOC International, which represents its third large investment in America in the past three years.

While Serica Energy is set on enlarging its portfolio with two additional licenses in UK waters by acquiring a compatriot player, Parkmead, Kosmos Energy was contemplating a potential acquisition of Tullow Oil.

Honeywell has now brought into its fold the LNG process technology and equipment business from Air Products, thanks to a deal valued at $1.81 billion. TotalEnergies recently expanded its gas portfolio by adding more assets offshore Malaysia thanks to the acquisition of interests OMV and Sapura Energy held in SapuraOMV Upstream.

Nebula Energy will pick up the tab for its majority-owned AG&P LNG to become a member of the Australian LNG club by acquiring Venice Energy, which is developing an import terminal project in South Australia, described as the world’s first floating LNG (FLNG) import terminal envisioned to be powered by 100% renewable energy.

Woodside Energy added Tellurian to its portfolio and took over the U.S. firm’s proposed LNG terminal in Louisiana, United States, for which it is targeting final investment decision readiness for Phase 1 from the first quarter of 2025.

In addition, Helmerich & Payne‘s move to acquire KCA Deutag is another example of further market consolidation. With a price tag of almost $2 billion, the business combination boosts rig fleet, global onshore drilling position, and footprint and exposure in America and the Middle East, seen as two of the biggest oil and gas-producing regions.

Some oil and gas players have seen opportunities for growth in combining their assets in a particular country to make the most of their portfolio in that region by establishing a joint venture company. To this end, Shell and Equinor have laid the groundwork on a quest to combine their offshore oil and gas assets in Great Britain, with the aim of creating the largest independent oil and gas player in the UK North Sea.

The merger encompasses 12 offshore fields and a range of exploration licenses on the UK Continental Shelf. However, Equinor will retain ownership of its cross-border assets and its offshore wind portfolio, alongside the hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, power generation, battery storage, and gas storage assets.

Shell will also keep its ownership interests in the Fife NGL plant, St Fergus Gas Terminal, and floating wind projects under development while remaining the technical developer of a project described as Scotland’s largest carbon capture and storage undertaking.

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BP and ADNOC Group, through XRG, have established Arcius Energy, bent on bringing to life a new regional gas platform, which will first focus on gas developments in Egypt. A few months ago, Eni joined forces with Ithaca Energy for upstream activities, thus becoming Britain’s second-largest oil and gas independent operator. The new entity will hold stakes in six of the ten largest fields and the top two largest undeveloped fields on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

The duo sealed the deal to combine the Italian energy giant’s upstream assets in the UK, excluding East Irish Sea ones and CCUS activities, with the North Sea operator’s portfolio, which is expected to allow them to strengthen their presence on the UK Continental Shelf.

Eni’s upstream assets in the UK waters are now part of Ithaca Energy, thus, the latter’s expanded portfolio holds stakes in six of the ten biggest fields and the two largest undeveloped assets on the UK Continental Shelf.

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Oil and gas companies have taken advantage of asset swap deals to bolster their main production and exploration hubs while offloading non-core assets. Woodside Energy and Chevron have embarked on a deal to exchange interests in core areas of operations and focus on strategic assets within the oil, gas, liquified natural gas, and carbon capture and storage domains in Western Australia.

OKEA and DNO have made similar arrangements to swap stakes in two prospects offshore Norway, which are on the drilling lists of rigs owned by Odfjell Drilling and Transocean, respectively. Two more Norwegian oil and gas players, Equinor and Petoro, have sealed a value-neutral asset swap agreement for multiple assets in the Haltenbanken area on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

Kjetil Hove, Equinor’s Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production Norway, sees the alignment of ownership around the larger production hubs as “important enablers for long-term value creation.”

The majority of Hess Corporation‘s shareholders have voted in support of its proposed merger with Chevron amid arbitration claims brought forward by the company’s partners in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana, ExxonMobil Guyana and CNOOC, which filed cases before the International Chamber of Commerce to seek a right to a first refusal over any sale of the U.S. firm’s 30% interest in the oil-rich offshore block under the existing joint operating agreement.

The duo’s business combination plans passed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust review. However, Hess’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was prohibited from joining the U.S. oil major’s board on the grounds of his alleged communications with global competitors, such as the OPEC cartel.

The completion of the merger remains subject to closing conditions, including the satisfactory resolution of ongoing arbitration proceedings, which ExxonMobil and CNOOC decided to file before the International Chamber of Commerce.

This arbitration revolves around preemptive rights in the Stabroek block joint operating agreement, as the duo is convinced they have a right to a first refusal over any sale of Hess’ 30% interest in the oil-rich offshore block in Guyana. The list of ExxonMobil’s six projects in this country includes Liza Phase 1 and Phase 2, Payara, Yellowtail, Uaru, and Whiptail. 

Steps are also being taken to get the required approvals for Hammerhead as the seventh deepwater oil project in Guyana, which will add between 120,000 and 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2029, raising the country’s overall production capacity bar to nearly 1.5 million bpd.

While both Chevron and Hess Corporation have welcomed the green light from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the antitrust review of their proposed merger, neither supports the FTC’s allegations concerning Hess’ CEO and his previous communications with global competitors such as OPEC cartel, but they still agreed he will not join the oil major’s board.

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The ongoing arbitration process, which Hess’ Stabroek block partners have brought into play regarding preemptive rights for the assets offshore Guyana, is keeping everyone on their toes, as its outcome remains an unknown factor that could derail the proposed merger.

Some potential business combinations are still in the early stage of being contemplated, while rumors about others are yet to be confirmed. In line with this, Bumi Armada is considering a business combination with the offshore segment of Malaysia’s MISC Group (MISC).

As Transocean is now reportedly contemplating a business combination with Seadrill, this would create a fleet of 49 rigs. While the former owns or has partial ownership interests in and operates a fleet of 34 MODUs, including 26 ultra-deepwater floaters and eight harsh environment floaters, the latter operates 15 MODUs, covering 12 drillships, one niche semi-sub, and two harsh environment units.

Industry sources also indicate that a Valaris–Seadrill merger may also be possible along with acquisitions of smaller players into floating rig giants’ fleets.

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Navigating shifting tides across oil, gas, and drilling environs comes with its unique set of challenges and opportunities. While these tides can be unpredictable, moving both in favor and against fossil fuel projects at times, as the winds of change become stronger, the oil and gas industry, alongside the offshore drilling sector and rig markets, is adapting to the shifts in the offshore energy landscape.

The enduring vision of ushering in a low-carbon and even carbon-free world is not in danger of fading out as business as usual now entails the pursuit of more hydrocarbons alongside decarbonization tools and energy transition enablers.

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