Falling barrel price was always likely to spark wave of acquisitions and mergers which could rival the mega-takeovers of the late 1990s
A big and sustained fall in the oil price can be relied on to set off a wave of takeovers in the industry.
Smaller companies suddenly find their costs and debts are too burdensome, while the big operators see the chance to cut expenses and pick up long-term assets cheaply.
Related: BG and Shell could be just the first of many energy mergers