March 11 - Global upstream oil and gas mergers and acquisitions continued at a low ebb in 2025, with total announced international deal value reaching just $18 billion, analytics firm Enverus said on Wednesday.
Enverus noted that the 2025 total sits well below the long-run average of about $60 billion. The firm attributed the weak showing primarily to a shortage of high-quality, development-stage resources on the market and to lower crude prices that limited the monetary value of transactions.
"International M&A is being shaped less by appetite and more by availability," said Andrew Dittmar, principal analyst at Enverus. He added that large integrated oil companies - the majors - have notably dialed back their participation in the M&A arena to concentrate on organic growth, while independent and privately held buyers have moved to pick up the mature fields and smaller stakes that the majors and state-owned firms have been divesting.
Regional flows of deal value were concentrated in Latin America, which made up roughly half of the announced international total. That regional share was driven in part by consolidation in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale formation and by portfolio reshuffling in Brazil. Enverus said Argentina experienced its busiest year for M&A since 2014, as local and regional specialists expanded after some international operators exited the country.
One of the larger disclosed transactions saw Vista Energy purchase Petronas Argentina in April for about $1.45 billion, according to the report. In Brazil, the pattern included sales of mature offshore assets to domestic operators, while majors and state-controlled firms increased their exposure in deepwater projects.
Looking ahead, Enverus sees international upstream M&A remaining subdued unless more development-stage resources are offered for sale. The firm also noted a conditional channel by which geopolitically driven crude price spikes could boost near-term cash flow for potential buyers and thereby support greater deal activity.
At the same time, Enverus cautioned that continued commodity price volatility could widen bid-ask spreads - the gap between what buyers will pay and sellers will accept - and potentially suppress transaction volumes until price stability returns.
"If higher prices prove durable it will cause a resurgence of interest in expanding global supply, unlocking more development projects and broadening buyer appetite," Dittmar said.
The report also referenced investor interest in individual equities, noting questions around whether VISTm represents a buying opportunity. It pointed to valuation tools that use multiple models to assess such opportunities, though the report itself emphasized the broader market constraints that have kept overall deal values low.