I’ve been discussing the return of big oil and gas M&A the last several weeks. And yesterday we got more confirmation it’s “money on” right now in the global petroleum sector — with one of the biggest single deals in years coming down in an unexpected place. From a virtually unknown acquirer — which has instantly become the largest independent producer in the neighborhood. That’s a London-based firm called Chrysaor Holdings. Which yesterday unveiled a $3.8 billion purchase of North Sea assets from Shell. Under the deal, Chrysaor is buying Shell’s working interest in seven North Sea projects. Coming with a current 115,000 b/d of oil equivalent production — plus another 13,000 b/d production in the Shetland Islands, which is expected to be onstream soon. In total, Chrysaor will acquire 350 million barrels of proven and probable reserves — making the firm the largest U.K. independent producer focused on […]