Occidental Petroleum, one of the big oil names in the S&P 500 index, made a USD 10.8bn bid for rival oil company Crownrock on Monday.

The acquisition of Crownrock, which explores for oil and gas in the state of Texas, is planned to be paid for in cash and Occidental stock.

According to Bloomberg News, Occidental will provide its own financing and not be in need of support for the acquisition from investment giant Berkshire Hathaway, which owns 25.9% of Occidental.

Initially, Occidental has secured bridge financing for USD 10bn from Bank of America, but the group will later have to issue new shares for USD 1.7bn in connection with the payment.

Since the summer, the US energy sector has seen several major deals. Exxon Mobil has agreed to buy Pioneer Natural Resources for USD 60bn, while Chevron is in the process of acquiring Hess for USD 53bn.