The New York Times discusses how the Oil Industry Turns to Mergers and Acquisitions to Survive. With the price of a barrel stuck around $40 and no recovery in sight, companies are combining to cut costs and ride out the pandemic.
The once mighty oil and gas industry is flailing, desperately trying to survive a pandemic that has sharply reduced demand for its products.
Most companies have cut back drilling, laid off workers and written off assets. Now some are seeking out merger and acquisition targets to reduce costs. ConocoPhillips announced on Monday that it was acquiring Concho Resources for $9.7 billion, the biggest deal in the industry since oil prices collapsed in March.
The acquisition, days after the completion of Chevron’s takeover of Noble Energy, would create one of the country’s biggest shale drillers and signals an accelerating industry consolidation as oil prices languish around $40 a barrel, just above the levels many businesses need to break even. Just last month Devon Energy said it would buy WPX Energy for $2.6 billion.