The oil and gas industry closed the first half of the year with 13 merger and acquisition operations compared with 38 deals closed in the same period last year, according to KPMG research. The variation represents a drop of more than 65% in the number of operations made by companies in the sector.

Of the 13 mergers and acquisitions operations made in the first half of this year, four were domestic, involving only Brazilian companies. The others were: three CB1, two CB3 and four CB5.

"Because of the auctions, the sector remained warm last year. At the moment, investors are waiting for the next bids that are expected to the last quarter of the year. Due to the number of companies interested in the auction, the expectation is that several transactions will be carried out, mainly with the new foreign investors, beside that there desinvestment program of Petrobras and unbounded in gas which will boom then M&A in sector", explains KPMG partner Paulo Guilherme Coimbra.