(Reuters). Despite the fact that the U.S. energy and natural gas industries are cooling from the post-pandemic consolidations, dealmaking fell in the third quarter (2021) from a peak of the prior quarter. Instead, the focus is shifting to selling non-core assets.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the July-September quarter totaled $18.5 billion, down 44% from the second quarter, even as it beat the five-year quarterly average M&A value.

Andrew Dittmar from Enverus said that the market has lost its urgency.

“Through the end of the year, we are likely to see mostly smaller-sized asset deals as companies trim their portfolios with the chance of an occasional larger public company merger or private E&P sale.”

Conocophillips, an oil producer, led quarterly rankings, according to the Enverus report. It bought assets from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (LON) in September for $9.5billion.

Private equity companies saw an increase in deals as they purchased assets not essential to their plans for development, according to the report.

These assets were mainly located in areas other than oil-prolific ones like West Texas’ Permian basin and New Mexico’s Permian Basin.

“It was natural that buyers and sellers who were most desperate would make deals, and the activity would return to normal.” Dittmar indicated that it seems like we are at an inflection moment.