Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) could be nearing a deal to buy privately held oil producer CrownRock. The Wall Street Journal reported that the oil giant was in the lead to buy the Permian Basin producer. The deal could be worth more than $10 billion.

The potential deal would be the latest in a wave of merger activity in the oil patch. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) closed multibillion-dollar acquisitions this year and have since agreed to even larger transactions. That's spurring rivals to consider deals of their own to keep up with those energy giants.

Occidental is one of several oil companies linked to CrownRock in recent weeks. Reuters reported last month that ConocoPhillips was weighing an offer for CrownRock. Meanwhile, Devon Energy, Diamondback Energy, Marathon Oil, and Continental Resources have all looked into buying CrownRock. Given the intense interest, talks with Occidental might not lead to a deal if one of those rivals, or another suitor, swoops in at the last moment.

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Source Fool.com