US oil mergers surge as energy, share prices recover from pandemic By Reuters – Investing.com

US oil mergers surge as energy, share prices recover from pandemic By Reuters – Investing.com

HOUSTON (Reuters) - U.S. oil and gas mergers surged last quarter with the most $1 billion plus combinations since 2014, according to data released on Monday, as rising energy and share prices led to larger oilpatch deals.

Producer are consolidating in U.S. shale as oil and prices recover from last year's pandemic swoon and this month traded at multi-year highs. Smaller producers also are snapping up unwanted properties in a bet on continued demand for oil and gas while some big oil companies shift their acquisition emphasis to renewables.

Total value of the 40 reported deals last quarter was $33 billion, estimated energy data provider Enverus Inc, up from $44.5 billion for all of last year.