据RZNews网站2019年1月8日休斯敦报道，美国油气数据公司Drillinginfo公司1月8日发布的统计数据显示，2018年美国上游并购交易总额为840亿美元，为2014年油气行业开始低迷以来的最高上游并购水平。

统计数据显示，美国去年第三季度和第四季度的上游并购交易额分别达到了创纪录的320亿美元和210亿美元。

2018年末，美国上游并购交易步伐加快，去年第四季度210亿美元的并购交易中，公司层面的交易额占了70%以上。

Drillinginfo公司并购分析师Andrew Dittmar在发给RZNews的报告中称：“投资者继续要求企业提供清晰的正向自由现金流。考虑到开发更大面积区块的效率、优化供应链物流以降低成本以及节省一般费用与行政费用，规模是如何实现这一目标的难题之一。华尔街不再为了增长目的而支持增长，并准备惩罚那些没有明确盈利策略的买家。”

美国去年末的公司层面上游并购也削减了私人股本在交易活动中的份额。在2018年第四季度，私募股权的收购份额下降到7%。此外，在2018年第四季度，私募股权仅占售出交易的4%。

李峻 编译自 RZNews.com

原文如下：

US Upstream M&A Deal Value for 2018 Highest in 4 Years

U.S. upstream M&A deals totaled $84 billion in 2018, marking the highest total since the onset of the oil and gas downturn in 2014, according to data released Jan. 8 from Drillinginfo.

The second half of 2018 fueled the surge with a record-setting $32 billion worth of deals in 3Q 2018 and $21 billion in 4Q 2018.

The pace of consolidation amped up in late 2018 with corporate-level deals making up more than 70 percent of the $21 billion deal value in the fourth quarter.

“Investors continue to demand that companies deliver a clear line-of-sight to positive free cash flow,” Drillinginfo M&A analyst Andrew Dittmar, said in a report emailed to Rigzone. “Scale is one piece of the puzzle on how to get there given efficiencies in developing larger acreage blocks, optimizing supply chain logistics to lower costs and G&A [general and administrative expenses] savings. Wall Street no longer supports growth for growth’s sake and is ready to punish buyers who do deals without a clear profit strategy.”

Corporate-level M&A in late 2018 also cut into private equities’ share of deal activity. In 4Q 2018, private equity’s share of acquisitions fell to just seven percent. Additionally, private equity accounted for only four percent of sold deals in 4Q 2018.