First-quarter 2014 got off to a solid start, and recently disclosed deals show acquisitions and divestitures activity simmering as summer approaches.

While recent deals in the Eagle Ford, including one for $3.1 billion, have overshadowed smaller transactions, the first quarter was rife with buys. The Permian Basin’s RSP Permian Inc. acquired 5,316 net acres prospective for horizontal development in Martin, Glasscock and Dawson counties, Texas, for an aggregate price of about $79 million. The company closed its IPO in January.

RSP closed on the acquisition of a 17.5% nonoperated working interest in producing properties in Martin County. The properties are contiguous to RSP’s operated leasehold positions there. The acquired Glasscock and Dawson county leaseholds are undeveloped.

Jon McCarter, Ernst & Young LLP’s (EY) Americas Oil & Gas Transactions leader, saw a slight uptick in the first quarter of 2014, although overall it was broadly similar to activity in the first quarters of 2012 and 2013.

North American oil and gas transaction activity was down for the quarter and remains relatively weak. While McCarter said 2014 will still be fruitful, a recent survey indicates oil and gas executives may be cooling to the prospect of wheeling and dealing.

“With credit conditions improving and some evidence of increasing appetite for debt, strong IPO and spin-out activity, and some evidence of a narrowing of the valuation gap in certain corners of the market, we do expect to see some modest recovery in activity over the rest of the year,” he said.

EY’s Oil and Gas Capital confidence barometer, a global survey of 154 oil and gas executives, found that oil and gas companies have a growing appetite for mergers and acquisitions. The EY survey found 52% view market share growth in new markets as a main driver of planned acquisition activity, while 76% plan to pursue deals at $500 million or less, which EY interprets as a focus on bolt-on acquisitions. Those numbers are bolstered by the belief of 92% of those surveyed that valuations will either increase or at least hold steady.

“I think our take on the first quarter was that it was fairly encouraging,” McCarter said in an interview. “2013 was a tough year for deals in the oil and gas space.” While there was an average of four deals a day, that’s a slow number for North America.

Relatively big spenders remain. BreitBurn Energy Partners LP said it plans to ramp up acquisition activity in 2014. Hal Washburn, BreitBurn's CEO, said the company will continue to actively monitor the market “and evaluate numerous opportunities to meet our acquisition target of $600 million for the year.”

In the Marcellus, Rice Energy Inc. completed the $110 million acquisition of M3 Midstream LLC gathering assets in Washington and Greene counties, Pa. Daniel J. Rice IV, CEO, said the acquisition “improves our infrastructure to support our Marcellus production growth in southwestern Pennsylvania.”

Also in the first quarter, Comstock Resources Inc. continued to pick up interests in South Texas. Included in the company’s capex for the quarter is $33.9 million for the acquisition of a 30% working interest in its Burleson County, Texas, acreage from Ursa New Ventures LLC. The acquisition includes a 30% working interest in one producing well and about 9,000 net acres. In November, Comstock purchased 70% of Ursa’s interests in the Eagle Ford Shale and one producing well for $66.5 million.

McCarter said companies are adopting a more conservative consensus on prices and a relentless focus on cost-cutting and operational efficiency, tempering appetite for deals.

Growth strategies for the industry’s companies are slowing, with organic growth a key, the survey found. Optimizing capital is the focus, with 51% of respondents now ranking it as most important.

McCarter said talk continues over whether gas plays will finally return to the playing field after the divide between seller and buyer valuations. “Plenty of players think now is a great time to buy natural gas,” he said.

The valuation gap between buyers and owners could be bridged, since a cold winter caused prices to rise. The export of LNG is still too far down the line to see how prices might be affected. Generally, there is agreement that “the stage is set perhaps for some more deal activity on the natural gas front.”

McCarter is fairly optimistic about how the rest of 2014 is shaping up. “It’s not that we were going to kind of race back up to a stellar year in ‘14,” he said, but potential deals, the availability of credit, solid IPO activity and capital availability seem to bode well.

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