Occidental Petroleum has entered into an agreement to acquire Texas oil producer CrownRock in a cash and stock deal worth approximately $10.8 billion as part of a growing consolidation in North America's highly productive Permian Basin.

This acquisition is part of a trend in the oil and gas industry where large energy companies are using their strong financial positions to acquire the assets of smaller competitors. Earlier this year, ExxonMobil announced its $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources, which was quickly followed by Chevron's $53 billion acquisition of Hess.

CrownRock, led by Texas businessman Timothy Dunn and backed by PE firm Lime Rock Partners, is one of the few remaining private players in the Permian Basin, alongside Endeavor Energy Resources and Mewbourne Oil. The deal comes on the heels of Occidental's $38 billion acquisition of Permian rival Anadarko more than four years ago, which saddled the company with debt and brought it to the brink of insolvency during the oil price downturn triggered by the Covid-19.

If successful, the takeover of CrownRock would cement Occidental's position as the second-largest player in the Permian Basin in the southwestern U.S., where it produced 968,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in August, according to data from consultancy Rystad Energy.