Chevron to buy PDC Energy in $7.6 billion deal

Chevron Corp (CVX.N) said on Monday it would acquire PDC Energy Inc (PDCE.O) in an all-stock transaction for $7.6 billion, including debt, adding new drilling inventory to its U.S. oil and gas reserves.

The company has been under pressure on Wall Street to show it can keep expanding production after 2027 as its main shale holdings in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico near their peak output.

The PDC Energy deal is the second in three years that bulks up Chevron's shale operations in Colorado and Wyoming. Chevron is already one...