Morgan Stanley has claimed the top position in the latest Oil & Gas Industry M&A financial advisers M&A league table for Q2 2018, compiled by leading data analytics company GlobalData.

The investment bank worked on seven deals worth a total of $49.9bn, surpassing competitors Goldman Sachs and Barclays, which came second and third, respectively, in value terms.

Prakhar Baghmar, financial deals analyst at GlobalData, said: “Morgan Stanley’s involvement in three transactions worth more than $10bn in addition to a few smaller deals helped it gain the top spot.”

According to GlobalData, Goldman Sachs was involved in eight deals worth a total of $46.4bn, while Barclays worked on three deals with combined value of $36.5bn.

Marathon Petroleum’s acquisition of Andeavor for $35.6bn was recorded as the quarter’s top deal for the industry.

Goldman Sachs and Evercore Partners emerged as the leading players by volume with eight deals each, followed by Morgan Stanley and Macquarie Group with seven deals each.

The total global Oil & Gas deals market has grown in value by almost 60% year-on-year, compared to a 12.64% drop in volume. Deal value for the quarter was $82.3bn compared to $51.6bn in Q2 2017, with Q2 2018 recording 311 deals, 45 less than in Q2 2017.

Both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs held the same ranking, first and second respectively, in the global league table of the top 20 M&A financial advisers released by GlobalData recently.

American law firm Sullivan & Cromwell claimed the first position in the list of the top 10 M&A legal advisers for Oil & Gas deals in Q2 2018. The company worked on four transactions worth $45.7bn, including the industry’s top deal of the quarter, the $35.6bn Andeavor acquisition.

Jones Day came second in the league table with nine deals worth a total of $38.8bn, while Cleary Gottlieb, with three deals worth $35.6bn, claimed the third spot. In volume terms, Jones Day led the competition.

– Sept. 5, 2018 @ 17:27 GMT |