I work in oil and gas and the downturn in 2020 caused M&A to be stagnant due to:
• Commodity price declines caused by a decrease in demand to the COVID-19 pandemic and Saudi-Russia price war
• Low investor sentiment due to historically poor returns on capital and a shift in focus to clean/renewable energy sources
• Limited access to capital due as banks reduce lending due to record loan losses (high number of bankruptcies in 2020) and ESG concerns
