Cheap Oil Fails To Ignite M&A

By Chad Watt and Mark Druskoff The much anticipated wave of consolidation due to rock-bottom oil prices hasn’t come to pass. The reason? A debt hangover. Cheap oil has led to stress and distress in some quarters, but upstream oil and gas deals have not begun flowing due to mountains of debt and disputes about prices between sellers and buyers, according to industry bankers, lawyers, private equity managers and oil executives attending the annual IHS CERAWeek in Houston last week. Oil CEOs...