疫情影响促进美国油气行业并购

原标题：疫情影响促进美国油气行业并购

    中国石化新闻网讯 据石油新闻2020年10月16日纽约报道，疲软的油价、紧张的资产负债表以及缺乏外部资金来源的支持，已使许多美国独立油气公司接近破产。对一些油气公司来说，联合起来可能是一种保持有偿还债务能力的方式。

    大多数独立油气生产公司以不稳定的状态进入了2020年。新冠肺炎疫情爆发导致的油价暴跌和需求崩溃，使这些独立油气生产公司的困境急剧恶化，经济复苏缓慢，许多油气公司的财政和业务面临大规模削减，直至2021年。

    晨星公司分析师戴维·米兹说，合并是有意义的，这是因为规模经济将使企业能够降低供应成本；减少分散化将确保对价格信号和库存约束做出更有效的反应。

    米兹表示，超级石油巨头可能会考虑收购几家有吸引力的独立油气公司，而对等并购可能继续发生，但溢价料将“适度至零”。

    雪佛龙公司斥资130亿美元收购独立石油生产商诺布尔能源公司是新冠肺炎疫情大流行后能源领域最大的并购案，这表明油气行业仍有可能通过收购进行传统的整合。

    不过，德文能源公司和WPX能源公司9月份宣布将以120亿美元全股票对等方式合并，这也表明规模相似、业务重叠的公司可以寻求联合，而不是靠自己的力量单独打拼。

    Tudor Pickering Holt 公司勘探和生产部门总经理马修·波尔蒂略表示，“行业整合正在变得越来越重要。”“除了二叠纪和马塞勒斯页岩盆地以外，美国大多数主要页岩盆地只需要一到两个盟主。”

    波尔蒂略在9月份举行的一次网络研讨会上推测，广泛的行业重组可能会导致诞生10到15家大型上市公司，其中包括4到5家中小型股本市场的参与者。

    波尔蒂略说：“合并很有可能会使我们调查的公司数目减少60%到80%。”

    李峻 编译自 石油新闻

    原文如下：

    Coronavirus fallout spurs M&A across US oil and gas sector

    Soft oil prices, strained balance sheets and a lack of support from outside funding sources have left many US independent oil and gas companies close to bankruptcy. For some, joining forces may be a way to stay solvent.

    Most independent producers entered 2020 on unstable footing. The oil price crash and collapse in demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic drastically worsened their predicament, and a slow economic recovery has left many facing massive financial and operational cuts well into 2021.

    "Consolidation makes sense — economies of scale will enable firms to lower supply costs; less fragmentation will ensure more efficient response to price signals and inventory constraints," Morningstar analyst David Meats said.

    Supermajors could look to snatch up a few appetizing independents and mergers of equals could continue to occur, Meats said, but "modest to zero premiums" should be expected.

    Chevron's $13 billion purchase of independent producer Noble Energy, the biggest post-pandemic merger in the energy space, showed that traditional consolidation through acquisitions remains a possibility for the industry.

    However, the September announcement that Devon Energy and WPX Energy would combine in a $12 billion, all-stock merger of equals also indicates that companies of similar size and with overlapping operations could look to join forces instead of slogging through on their own.

    "Industry consolidation is becoming paramount," said Matthew Portillo, the managing director in the exploration and production sector for Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. "Most major plays, with the exception of the Permian and maybe the Marcellus [Shale], need only one or two champions."

    Speaking at a webinar in September, Portillo speculated that widespread industry consolidation could result in 10 to 15 large public companies, including four to five small to mid-cap players.

    "There's a very good chance that consolidation will take down 60% to 80% of the companies we cover," Portillo said.