24 January 2018
North Sea's last hurrah
M&A in the region picked up in 2017, but European output was still expected to wane
A flurry of mergers and asset deals, along with a handful of promising discoveries over the past year or two, left many hopeful in 2017 that the fast-maturing North Sea still had some juice left in it. Eastern European states, meanwhile, continued to rail against Russian gas, as well as climate-change measures that might hurt their economically important coal industries. The $9bn that changed hand in deals relating to North Sea exploration and production assets in the first half of 2017 was more than the total value for 2016 as a whole, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie—and momentum continued in the second half, notably with Total's $7.45bn purchase of Maersk Oil from AP Moeller-Maersk
Also in this section
10 March 2026
From Venezuela to Hormuz, the US—backed by the most powerful military force ever assembled—is redrawing not only oil and gas flows but also the global balance of energy power
10 March 2026
By shutting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has cut exports of distillate-rich Middle Eastern crude, jet fuel and diesel, and is holding the energy market hostage
10 March 2026
Eni’s director for global gas and LNG portfolio, Cristian Signoretto, discusses how demand will respond to rising LNG supply, and how the company is expanding its own gas and LNG operations through disciplined, capital-efficient investments
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
