Private equity funds accelerated acquisitions of oil and gas assets in 2021

We recently undertook some research and found that private equity funds bought £11.9 billion of European oil and gas businesses in 2021, up from just £232 million in 2020. While historically some private equity funds have been long-term investors in the oil and gas industry much of the investment has been within the lower-risk midstream and services segments of the market, which offer more insulation to investors from volatility in oil prices, these figures show that the higher-risk exploration segment is rapidly becoming more attractive to private equity investors. The reasons for this include oil and gas businesses reshaping their portfolios to meet energy transition goals, a period of low oil prices against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the growth in the decommissioning industry. Read more about our research and conclusions here: https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/news/2022/private-equity-funds-accelerate-acquisitions-of-oil-and-gas-assets