OP: $180 billion and counting – what’s next for US shale M&A?

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Oilprice.com‘s Tom Kool email to readers today:

WTI crude is soaring back toward $80 per barrel as the Merger & Acquisition action in the U.S. oil patch continues. 

According to the Financial Times, the latest Diamondback-Endeavor deal brought the total deal value of the bonanza since the beginning of last year to a whopping $180 billion. 

But everyone who thinks that this wave of consolidation is leading to a new ‘drill baby drill’ mentality needs a reality check. 
Instead, the industry is focusing on what it’s been doing best: optimizing shareholder returns. 

With the number of privately held companies in America’s hottest shale plays falling, the drivers of blind production growth are fading. 

With ten companies controlling the production of 6.4 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, and very few rigs being added to the patch, we’re about to see higher oil prices.

Oilprice.com’s very own shale oil expert David Messler (in a free report) has just given his two cents about what could be the next megamerger in U.S. oil. 

If you want to position yourself to profit from higher oil prices, Oilprice.com’s Global Energy Alert provides you with top-notch analysis and vetted stock-picks every week. 

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And if you decide this kind of thing isn’t for you, we’ll give you a full refund.

Kind regards,

Tom Kool
Editor, Oilprice.com