Big Oil mergers could trigger more deals, consolidation in South-east Asia crude sector

BIG Oil is on the move, and South-east Asia’s crude oil sector is bracing itself for a shake-up. In the wake of deals recently announced by ExxonMobil and Chevron, industry watchers say more mergers, acquisitions and consolidation may be expected among oil players in the region.

The “immediate and wider reverberations” of the mega-mergers are likely to be felt in corporate strategies in South-east Asia, said Angus Rodger, Wood Mackenzie’s vice-president for upstream small and medium-sized enterprises in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East.

“While it’s not certain that we’re entering a new round of industry-wide consolidation – mega-mergers or otherwise – it’s fair to assume that the parameters of C-suite discussions across the global oil sector have been broadened by the events of the last two weeks,” he said.