Deals
Shale Patch M&A Frenzy Cools as Oil Price Gets Stuck Below $45
- Deal activity is down from 2016 and early 2015 levels
- WTI crude fell 18% this year as outlook remains clouded
Oil Falls to Seven-Month Low
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Deals in the shale patch aren’t so hot anymore with oil in the doldrums.
Mergers and acquisitions among U.S. exploration and production companies fell to less than $15 billion in the second quarter from about $23 billion in the first, according to estimates from Bloomberg Intelligence. The number of deals plunged to the lowest since early 2015. In the previous two years deals had increased, not fallen, in the second quarter from the first.