Upstream M&A falls 13% Year-Over-Year in 2022 to $58B

Deal count plunges to the lowest level since 2005 as buyers selectively target top-tier assets in large deals

CALGARY, AB, Jan. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR), a subsidiary of Enverus, the most trusted energy-dedicated SaaS platform,is releasing its summary of 4Q22 upstream merger and acquisition (M&A) activity. For 2022, U.S. upstream M&A saw $58 billion transacted in 160 deals, including $13 billion from 26 deals in the fourth quarter. While deal values are down just about 20% from pre-pandemic averages, the volume of deals has collapsed to a nearly two-decade low as activity has been driven by large companies targeting the highest quality assets in billion-dollar-plus deals.

"Large-cap public companies like Devon Energy, Diamondback Energy, and Marathon Oil dominated deal activity in the back half of 2022," said Andrew Dittmar, director at Enverus Intelligence Research. "These buyers have the balance sheet strength and favorable stock valuations to take advantage of large, high-quality offerings from private sellers."