Shale Gas Drives Most Energy Company Deals in Past 3 Months

Just how big a deal is shale gas in the U.S. in general, and the Marcellus Shale in particular? According to a mergers and acquisitions report for the energy sector just released by PricewaterhouseCoopers, shale gas is driving most of the energy deals happening right now:

In the past three months, seven of the top 10 biggest deals in the oil and gas industries have been related to shale plays, according to a report released today by the analysis arm of New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Two of those transactions involved the Marcellus Shale natural gas formation that underlies much of Appalachia — the two deals alone totaled $2.3 billion of the $7.5 billion spent on shale activity.*

*Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Aug 10, 2011) – Shale plays big in gas, oil industry deals