The Wall Street credit crisis and a drop in energy prices from their recent highs are setting the stage for a wave of oil-industry consolidation.
BP Plc
Oil-Industry Competition Could Shrink
New reporting rules will boost oilpatch’s reserves: may lead to takeovers
The world's second-largest non-government-controlled oil company by market value, Royal Dutch Shell, is likely to benefit most among the oil majors, analysts said. The company invested heavily in squeezing crude from bitumen-soaked soil in Alberta, and in extracting gas locked in coal beds in Australia and China, as it sought to rebuild its asset base after a reserves overbooking scandal in 2004.