North Sea waters start to calm

Total's Maersk oil deal is unlikely to be surpassed in the region any time soon

After a flurry of mergers and acquisitions so far in 2017, activity based on North Sea assets is likely to become more subdued, with most of the choicest prospects on the market now having changed hands. The first half of the year saw more than $9bn of value traded in North Sea-related M&A, more than for the whole of 2016 put together, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie. The biggest were Chrysaor's purchase of a package of Shell's North Sea assets worth almost $4bn, private equity-backed Neptune Oil & Gas's acquisition of Engie's exploration and production business for around $4bn and the purchase of the oil and gas business of Denmark's Dong Energy for $1.3bn. These deals were