Given private equity firms’ desire for a bargain, it is surprising that hardly any have taken advantage of the plummeting price of Brent Crude oil.

Since last July, when the price of oil began its slide from more than $100 per barrel to close to $50 per barrel, there have been 14 private equity deals in the European oil and gas sector, worth $1.3 billion, according to Dealogic. This compares with 14 deals worth $1.8 billion over the same period a year before. The total value of deals has not been so low over the period since between July 2002 and April 2003, when there were five deals worth $147 million.