GE was not just another company with cash to burn. When GE started making major OFS investments a decade ago this writer wondered what attracted GE to this notoriously cyclical business. They had bought control of companies in prior years then were delighted to sell to GE at a substantial profit. Private equity вЂ“ which often employs its own capital to unlock shareholder value вЂ“ were sellers not competitors. GE faced little resistance from reluctant sellers searching for higher offers once GEвЂ™s offer price was revealed.

OFS was going to be a significant part of the conglomerateвЂ™s future. Virtually everything GE wanted GE got because of the strength of its balance sheet and the conviction of its vision. When the target companies were public GE usually offered a handsome premium to market, often in the 1/3+ range. Four transactions of undisclosed value pushes the total higher. The table below shows US$14.875 billion of disclosed deals. By 2015 GE had invested well over US$15 billion around the world. Starting in 1994 GE began buying companies supporting oil and gas development, transportation or processing. Tell us about whatвЂ™s happening around you.The greatest gift to shareholders of a vast array of global oilfield services (OFS) firms in the past 20 years has been the entry of storied industrial giant General Electric Co. He planned to publish research on the latest crisis in coming weeks but said: вЂњIвЂ™m expecting that when we put in $30 and $40 in real terms вЂ‰.вЂ‰.вЂ‰.вЂ‰it will be on the low side.вЂќ

Last year he estimated that at oil prices of $50 a barrel, 8.7bn barrels of oil equivalent could economically be recovered by 2050. The industryвЂ™s regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority, had estimated in 2018 that 10bn-20bn barrels of oil equivalent could still be recovered from the North Sea but Alex Kemp, professor of petroleum economics at Aberdeen University, warned activity levels in the basin were вЂњvery sensitive to changes in oil pricesвЂќ. Video: How the US oil price fell below zeroД®ven before coronavirus, questions were being asked about whether the continued existence of the North Sea oil and gas industry was compatible with the UKвЂ™s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and whether investors and banks, which are adopting increasingly stringent environmental policies, would continue to support operators in the region. Operators that had intended to take final investment decisions this year on significant new developments are expected to postpone. It believed North Sea operatorsвЂ™ cash flows could turn negative this year for only the third time in four decades.Дrilling, which is often among the first activities to be postponed or shelved, is set to fall by more than a third to record lows, according to OGUK, while more mature fields could be decommissioned early. OGUK, a trade body for the North Sea, expected operators to cut capital investment by up to 30 per cent this year to ВЈ4bn-ВЈ4.5bn as their revenues slumped. вЂњOnce the health crisis is over we are into a massive industrial crisis here as well,вЂќ Mr Molloy said, as oil and gas companies move quickly to slash capital expenditure.

By 2018, employment figures had improved to 36,800 but unions are fearful this latest crisis could take a similarly heavy toll. In 2014, 41,300 people were directly employed by the UKвЂ™s offshore oil and gas industry but this fell to 35,600 in 2016.

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