Biggest oil and gas sector deals since start of the century

Australia's Woodside Energy (WDS.AX) and Santos (STO.AX) said on Thursday they were in preliminary talks to create an A$80 billion ($52 billion) global oil and gas giant, as consolidation among international energy firms intensifies.

The talks come on the back of multi-billion-dollar acquisitions by Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) in the United States announced in October.

Here are the major deals in the global oil and gas sector since the 2000s:

2001

Chevron buys Texaco in a $39.5 billion deal and emerges as one of the largest energy firms in the world.

2002

Shareholders of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum, and the Federal Trade Commission approve an $18 billion merger between the companies and created the third-largest U.S. oil firm ConocoPhillips (COP.N).

2005

Chevron agrees to buy California rival Unocal for about $16.4 billion after fighting off Italian oil group Eni (ENI.MI), China's CNOOC and other rumored suitors.

2006

ConocoPhillips acquires Burlington Resources in a $35.6 billion deal and gains access to lucrative positions in North American gas-rich basins.

2007

Norway's Statoil buys the oil and gas assets of Norsk Hydro for $30 billion to create a new energy firm, Equinor (EQNR.OL).

2010

Exxon Mobil acquires XTO Energy for about $30 billion in stock to bolster its position as a leading U.S. natural gas producer.

2012

Russia's state oil company Rosneft (ROSN.MM) buys TNK-BP from UK-based BP (BP.L) in a $55 billion deal. Kinder Morgan (KMI.N) finalizes a $21 billion deal to buy El Paso Corp, combining the two largest natural gas pipeline operators.

2014

Kinder Morgan buys all of its publicly traded units (Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, Kinder Morgan Inc with Kinder Morgan Management and El Paso Pipeline Partners) in a $70 billion deal.

2015

Shell (SHEL.L) (then Royal Dutch Shell) acquires British rival BG Group in a $70 billion deal.

2018

Marathon Petroleum (MPC.N) takes over rival Andeavor for $23 billion.

2019

Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) acquires Anadarko Petroleum in a $38 billion deal.

2020

ConocoPhillips buys Concho Resources for $9.7 billion in 2020's top shale deal. Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) completes its purchase of a 70% stake in petrochemicals company Saudi Basic Industries for $69.1 billion. PipeChina takes over oil and gas pipelines, and storage facilities from PetroChina (601857.SS) and Sinopec in a deal valued at $55.9 billion.

2021

Norway's Aker BP (AKRBP.OL) buys Sweden's Lundin Energy in a $13.9 billion cash and stock deal to form Norway's second largest listed oil firm. BHP Group (BHP.AX) agrees to sell its petroleum business to Woodside in a merger to create an oil and gas producer worth $28 billion with growth assets in Australia and the Americas.

2023

Magellan Midstream Partners' unitholders vote in favor of its sale to larger rival ONEOK (OKE.N) for $18.8 billion, creating one of the largest U.S. energy pipeline companies.

ExxonMobil agrees to buy Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD.N) in an all-stock deal valued at $59.5 billion that would make it the biggest producer in the largest U.S. oilfield and secure a decade of low-cost production.

Chevron agrees to buy smaller rival Hess Corp (HES.N) in a $53 billion all-stock deal, putting the company head-to-head against rival ExxonMobil in two of the world's fastest growing oil basins - shale and Guyana.