U.S. oil giant acquiring Unocal to tap into Asia

ChevronTexaco on Monday agreed to buy Unocal, one of the largest independent U.S. oil companies, in a $16.4 billion cash and stock deal that will expand its global reach and could reignite a round of consolidation among midtier oil and gas producers.
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The announcement, the largest for the industry in three years following a wave of megamergers in the late 1990s, gives ChevronTexaco promising assets in Azerbaijan, Indonesia and the Gulf of Mexico at a time when oil companies are having trouble finding new reserves. It also ends months of speculation over the future of Unocal.
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