At the end of the day, networking and personal relationships make the difference in successful acquisitions and divestitures, but these tactics can be expanded. So says Binney Williamson, who has completed about 250 deals in his career, most recently as vice president of business development for Peoples Energy Production Co.

Since opening the latter's Houston office in 1998, he has grown the utility's oil and gas proved reserves to about 305 billion cubic feet equivalent. The assets are being acquired by El Paso Corp. for $875 million.

"Keep the pump primed. You can't start and stop the process," he told some 200 attendees at the inaugural A&D-The Workshop, presented by Oil and Gas Investor and A&D Watch newsletter recently in Dallas.

"When my boss asks me, 'Who do we know at Apache? Who do we know at ConocoPhillips?' I darn sure hope I know someone there," Williamson said. "Out of 20 deals I did at Peoples, only four were in data rooms and the rest were negotiated."

To a great extent, networking means selling yourself and your company, he added.

In addition to sourcing traditional M&A ideas, Williamson seeks a range of negotiated deal opportunities: joint ventures, drilling deals, roll-ups of working interests in a unit, bolt-ons of nearby assets, limited-access deals (in which the seller invites only a handful of bidders) and trades.

Sometimes smaller deals create a greater rate of return, and they may be found in somewhat unexpected venues. That's why he uses what he calls the "Johnny Appleseed" approach: going door to door outside of the main energy cities and into smaller towns such as Tyler or Marshall, Texas. "There can be opportunities in those towns," he said.

Further, he stays in contact with individuals who may source a deal. "I think there's a whole market out there through landmen, through explorationists...for the small deals, $1- or $6- or $8-million deals, that aren't going through an [A&D] intermediary."

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