Mergers and acquisitions in the upstream segment of the U.S. oil and gas industry hit $3.4 billion in the first quarter of the year, Reuters has reported, citing data from Enverus, the energy consultancy. The value of the deals in the first quarter compares with $600 million for the first quarter of 2020 but is less than the $27.8 billion in deals recorded for the fourth quarter of 2020. The five biggest deals last quarter involved a private company, Enverus noted in its report. These included Pioneer Natural Resources’ $6.4-billion acquisition of privately owned DoublePoint and Energy Transfer’s takeover of Enable ... (full story)