The absent European boom

4 January 2006

US oil firms racked up an impressive $110bn of deals in 2005, while European firms managed a meagre $15bn. That’s partly because European firms preferred to build reserves through exploration. But pressure is building for megamergers everywhere.

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Oil and gas firms racked up $110bn of mergers and acquisitions in the US during 2005, more than twice as much as last year, and seven times as much as in Europe.

The biggestticket deals saw US companies buy other US firms, such as Conoco's $30bn acquisition of Burlington, Chevron's $19bn purchase of Unocal, and Valero's $9bn takeover of refiner Premcor. But some European firms also made US acquisitions, such as Norway's Statoil, which spent $2bn buying Gulf of Mexico fields.

The level of European mergers only reached $15bn in 2005, according to Dealogic, compared with $12bn the year before. Meanwhile in Russia and the CIS, oil and gas deals more than doubled to $35bn.

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