Interview: Oil & Gas Internal M&A Group

I've managed to get an interview with the internal M&A group at large exploration and production company. The group looks for corporate and asset acquisition opportunities. I've been working for the past year as an analyst at in an oil & gas group (think BMO / William Blair / RBC / Capital One), so gotten some experience, but not a ton of deal flow.

Wanted to see if anyone had any experience with this type of job, and what type of questions to expect?

I figure they will ask me what kind of valuation metrics I look at (EV / EBITDA, EV / Daily Producing, EV / Proved Reserves), ask about recent deals in the industry and the plays in which they operate. Anyone else have any ideas about what type of things they may ask?

4 Comments
 

I would imagine they would test your oil & gas industry knowledge as well, being that they are an E&P company... they might ask you about their assets, and I'd be shocked if they didn't ask you what you think some good buying opportunities are for them given their current balance sheet and asset portfolio. Just my $0.02 though, never actually dealt with this.

Wall Street leaders now understand that they made a mistake, one born of their innocent and trusting nature. They trusted ordinary Americans to behave more responsibly than they themselves ever would, and these ordinary Americans betrayed their trust.
 

I'm sorry I can't really be much help when it comes to oil and gas. I did, however, just receive an offer with an internal M&A group at a pharmaceutical company. I can say that my interview was not nearly as tough as IB interviews were. I got a few technical questions regarding industry specific valuation techniques, recent deals and (IMO the toughest part) questions about the future of the industry as well as my opinion of future industry M&A activity. Most of the questions were fit, it was a super relaxed interview and they know you get the technical aspect of the job (from IB experience), just be cool and prepared to answer a few techs, which should be a breeze for you. good luck!

 

I agree with Beef. I'd also look at the economics of drilling in certain basins and have a comfortable understanding of the costs/potential returns. i.e. an understanding of expected cash flow from a well after netting out production costs. You don't need to be an expect, but I would expect the job would entail evaluating acquiring acreage positions that may or may not have current produciton....so you're going to need to know some comps to look at acreage prices too.

 

Ex provident ex est placeat eius voluptatibus. Ut quisquam quo voluptates. Optio officiis eligendi modi non voluptatibus. Nisi sed a et minus sit iusto.

Culpa fugit nesciunt quam doloribus inventore enim harum. Fugit consequatur explicabo dolor aperiam et quibusdam iusto.

Impedit quae quibusdam et quia autem maxime. Est placeat nam ea laborum architecto. Aut sit dignissimos dignissimos ad eveniet. Vero accusamus debitis et dolorum qui aut voluptatem. Error fuga dignissimos sint.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.9%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (53) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”