The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Jan. 12, edition that Chesapeake Energy agreed to buy Southwestern Energy in an all-stock transaction valued at $7.4-billion, a deal that will make it the largest independent U.S. natural gas producer (all figures U.S.). A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that the deal is a bet natural gas prices will stay off the multiyear lows they touched last year as demand from proposed new U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals jumps in 2025. The purchase is expected to close next quarter. Chesapeake's offer of $6.69 per Southwestern share represented a discount of about 3 per cent to the stock's last close. The Southwestern bid is the biggest move to date in Chesapeake's efforts to regain its former stature as the largest U.S. gas producer since emerging from bankruptcy restructuring in 2021. The deal is the latest in a spate of multibillion-dollar consolidations in the U.S. energy sector as companies seek to secure future production. Among the recent combinations: Exxon Mobil's $60-billion pending offer for shale firm Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron's $53-billion agreement to buy Hess. Last week, APA Corp. agreed to buy Callon Petroleum for $4.5-billion.