Markets on the rise

The oil-price recovery has helped to improve the outlook for oil and gas capital markets

Capital raised by oil and gas companies reached $530bn in 2017. Although a partial recovery from 2016's nadir, this remains low compared to recent historical levels and is around 70% off the peak we saw in 2014. In 2017, all sources of capital—loans, bonds and equity—came in at lower than the five-year average. While access to capital has undoubtedly improved, a host of other factors are also at play. Internal cash generation has recovered along with commodity prices. In parallel, capital discipline and efficiency measures have reduced the sector's capital intensity to some extent, and alternative sources of capital such as forward sales or divestments to private equity are also increasingly