ConocoPhillips has agreed to acquire Marathon Oil amid the current trend of consolidation in the US oil industry. The value of the all-stock transaction is USD 22.5 billion, including USD 5.4 billion of debt.

The move follows October's massive acquisitions of ExxonMobil and Chevron, which sparked a series of industry-wide transactions, including acquisitions of companies such as Occidental Petroleum and Diamondback Energy.

The deal will be ConocoPhillips' largest acquisition since 2021, when it bought Concho Resources for $10 billion, taking advantage of the downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Marathon owns assets ranging from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota to Oklahoma, Texas and the Permian Basin in New Mexico. It also owns an integrated gas company in Equatorial Guinea. The sale of Marathon Oil marks the end of a company that traces its roots back to 1887, when the Ohio Oil Company was founded. In 1962, it became Marathon Oil, a refining company with operations in Libya, Nigeria and Europe.

Under the terms of the agreement, Marathon Oil shareholders will receive 0.255 shares of ConocoPhillips for each of their shares, representing a nearly 15% premium to Marathon Oil's share price prior to the announcement of the transaction.