That possible takeover offer for Afren, one of several expressions of interest in the oil and gas explorer, may be an indicator of the start of the widely expected consolidation in the sector, in which several small independents will be picked up by the majors.
Or it may not. At some stage, though, the large oil companies and state-owned ones will take the view that the price has come down far enough and that some of those tiddlers are astonishingly good value for their development potential.
On their shopping list, at least potentially, will be Premier Oil. Its market capitalisation of about £870 million and production of about 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day makes it among the larger independents. Tony Durrant took