IMPROVED OIL PRICE DRIVES AFRICAN M&A ACTIVITY

摘要

THE MERGERS AND acquisition (M&A) market for the oil and gas sector in Africa showed signs of recovery in 2017. After several years of slowdown, the recovery comes on the back of companies who have raised cash for capital projects through divestitures; improved their balance sheets and are replenishing upstream reserves. There was a 62 per cent increase in total deal value from 2016 to 2017. In 2017, there were 65 deals with a total value of US$8.6bn. The upstream sector dominated deal activity totalling US$7.3bn, up from US$4.6bn in 2016. One major upstream deal was ExxonMobil's US$2.8bn acquisition of a 25 per cent stake in Eni's operations in Mozambique. This is a major addition to ExxonMobil's natural gas portfolio.