M&A and Portfolio Transactions in the Energy Sector: Deal Trends and Diligence Hot Spots

Foley partners Nick Peters, Deanna Reitman and Glenn Reitman recently presented a webinar updating on recent M&A trends across the energy sector. At a high level, energy M&A activity in 2026 continues to reflect a market shaped by diverging sector dynamics, evolving demand patterns, and heightened strategic selectivity. In the oil and gas space, transaction activity remains meaningful, but buyers are proceeding with greater discipline amid commodity price volatility, geopolitical uncertainty, and persistent valuation gaps. Premium assets, particularly those with high-quality drilling inventory, strong development potential, and strategic infrastructure value, continue to attract interest, while natural gas and midstream assets are benefiting from renewed focus on domestic energy security, LNG demand, and the need for reliable power supply.

By contrast, M&A activity across the broader power, utility, and infrastructure landscape has accelerated significantly, driven in large part by surging electricity demand associated with AI and data center development. As developers, utilities, infrastructure investors, and technology companies seek scalable and dependable sources of power, existing generation, transmission access, and utility platforms have become increasingly valuable. In many cases, acquisitions offer a faster and more certain path to capacity than greenfield development, particularly given permitting delays, interconnection backlogs, and the growing premium placed on speed to power.

This dynamic is reflected in some of the year’s most notable transactions. In oil and gas, buyers have continued to pursue scale, inventory depth, and strategic supply positions through transactions involving upstream and natural gas-focused assets. In the broader energy sector, large utility and infrastructure deals, along with acquisitions by technology companies seeking to secure dedicated energy resources, underscore a market increasingly centered on reliability, grid access, and long-term power availability. Taken together, these trends suggest that while traditional commodity-driven considerations remain important, the broader energy M&A market is being redefined by infrastructure constraints and demand growth tied to electrification and digital expansion.

Foley is actively advising clients across this evolving landscape, including in connection with upstream and midstream joint ventures, fund formations, M&A, pipeline development projects, renewable and conventional power transactions, and data center-related infrastructure investments. Our experience reflects what the market is increasingly demanding: practical legal guidance at the intersection of energy supply, infrastructure development, capital deployment, and strategic growth. As 2026 continues, we expect successful transactions to be shaped by a common set of priorities, including access to power, infrastructure readiness, and the ability to move quickly in a highly competitive environment.

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