(Reuters) -The U.S. energy sector has entered a new phase of consolidation as the industry went on a $250-billion buying spree in 2023, and experts see more transactions on the horizon.

Dealmaking is on the rise as oil and gas producers are looking to improve longevity of inventories at low cost, and focus on cash that can be returned to shareholders.

The majority of energy executives polled in December by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas expected more oil deals worth $50 billion or higher to pop up in the next two years.

In 2023, some 39 private companies were acquired by public companies, Enverus data showed.

Below is a list of deals in the U.S. oil and gas sector so far this year:

Target Acquirer Deal value Deal type Closing

(in $) date

Chord 3.84 bln Cash and Mid 2024

Enerplus Corp Energy stock

Diamondback 26 bln Cash and Q4, 2024

Endeavor Energy stock

Energy

APA Corp 4.5 bln All-stock Q2, 2024

Callon

Petroleum

Chesapeake 7.4 bln All-stock Q2, 2024

Southwestern Energy

Energy

Talos 1.29 bln Cash and End of Q1,

QuarterNorth Energy stock 2024

Energy

Sunoco 7.3 bln All-stock Q2, 2024

NuStar Energy

California 2.1 bln All-stock Second

Aera Energy Resources half, 2024

5.5 bln Q4, 2024

Equitrans EQT Corp

Midstream All-stock

(Compiled by Mrinalika Roy, Sourasis Bose and Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Edited by Shweta Agarwal and Shounak Dasgupta)