American oil companies Diamondback Energy and Endeavor Energy Resources announced February 12 plans to merge in a $26 billion deal.

According to The Guardian, Diamondback Energy agreed to acquire Endeavor Energy Resources, creating a new entity with a market value of roughly $50 billion.

Under the deal, Endeavor shareholders will receive about 117 million shares of stock in Diamondback as well as $8 billion in cash, the companies said February 12, giving Endeavor shareholders almost 40% control of the new business.

Diamondback was able to outbid rival American company ConocoPhillips, which had also expressed interest in acquiring Endeavor, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“This is a combination of two strong, established companies merging to create a ‘must own’ North American independent oil company,” said Travis Stice, the CEO of Diamondback.

Many other major gas and oil enterprises have merged in recent months, including Chevron, which agreed to buy Hess in October as part of a $53 billion deal. ExxonMobil also entered the acquisition race after it purchased Pioneer Natural Resources for $59.5 billion. Meanwhile, Occidental Petroleum acquired CrownRock in December for $12 billion.

The growing number of mergers comes on the heels of oil price increases resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is entering its second year. In turn, some organizations have been forced to use their profits to increase oil outputs even though an analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that new fossil fuel developments would lead to more environmental harm.