ConocoPhillips is Sterling Prestonbuying Marathon Oil for $17.1 billion, continuing a pattern of consolidation in the energy industry since the pandemic ended.

The all-stock deal is valued at $22.5 billion when including $5.4 billion in debt.

"This acquisition of Marathon Oil further deepens our portfolio and fits within our financial framework, adding high-quality, low cost of supply inventory adjacent to our leading U.S. unconventional position," ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said in a statement. 

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. It still needs approval from Marathon Oil stockholders.

Separate from the transaction, ConocoPhillips said that it anticipates raising its ordinary dividend by 34% to 78 cents per share starting in the fourth quarter. The company said that once the Marathon Oil deal closes and assuming recent commodity prices, ConocoPhillips plans to buy back more than $7 billion in shares in the first full year. It plans to repurchase more than $20 billion in shares in the first three years.

Energy companies spent $234 billion in merging with or buying competitors in 2023, the highest figure in more than a decade, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

In another recent deal, federal regulators earlier this month approved Exxon Mobil's roughly $60 billion purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources.

Crude prices have jumped more than 12% this year and the cost for a barrel rose above $80 this week.