The oil industry expects more mergers and acquisitions in the 12 months ahead, which is a marked difference from just a year ago when everyone in oil was extra cautious and money was tight. This is the main outtake from EY’s latest edition of the Global Capital Confidence Barometer for the oil and gas industry. The consultancy found an overwhelming number of industry executives are very optimistic about consolidation: 9 out of 10 expected more mergers and acquisitions in the next 12 months, and 74 percent expected their own company’s M&A deals in the pipeline to grow in the period. That’s despite challenges such as market volatility and inflationary pressures, which were cited as the biggest risks to their investment plans—by 40 percent and 49 percent of survey respondents, respectively. The EY reports echoes a forecast that Wood Mackenzie made at the start of this year when the firm […]