US oil company Phillips Petroleum last night agreed to pay $15.2bn in an all-share deal for rival Conoco, paying no premium to create the number one refiner in the US.
The oil companies said cost savings from the merger would boost earnings in the first year, but added that it was too early to say how many jobs cuts would result from the combination.
The combined entity will also form the sixth biggest integrated oil company in the world and the third in the US. Based on Friday's stock market close, the new company will have a market value of about $35bn.
The companies billed the deal as a merger of equals but Phillips effectively ends up in the driver's seat.
Phillips shareholders will hold 56.6% of the new entity, to be called ConocoPhillips, although the board will be equally divided with each company providing eight of the 16 directors.
