Significant shakeout beckons as upstream industry consolidates

IOCs are gearing up for drilling on exploration plays from Guinea-Bissau to Kenya if they can get a rig but much oil industry speculation is focused on an expected wave of consolidation, heralded by the merger of Norways offshore giants and M&A activity involving many smaller companies that have been piling into Africa. Thalia Grifths, Jon Marks and Eleanor Gillespie examine the upstream prospects for 2007.