Houston-based Plains Exploration & Production Company [NYSE: PXP] said Jan. 2 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to participate in the highly prospective exploration play offshore Morocco.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire both Plains Exploration & Production Co. and McMoRan Exploration Co. in transactions totaling $20 billion.

BP has agreed to sell its interests in a number of central North Sea oil and gas fields to TAQA for $1.058 billion plus future payments which, dependent on oil price and production, BP currently expects will exceed $250 million.

Plains Exploration & Production Co. intends to offer $2.25 billion of senior notes issued in an underwritten public offering. The senior notes are expected to be issued in two series, with the first series to be due in 2020 and the second series to be due in 2023.

BP has agreed to sell its 18.36% non-operated interest in the Draugen field in the Norwegian Sea to AS Norske Shell for $240 million in cash.

In what analysts are calling a ‘transformative transaction,’ Plains Exploration & Production Co. (PXP) has added to its portfolio of mature oil fields with large asset acquisitions in the Gulf of Mexico, the company announced Monday.

While many exploration and production companies favor transactions involving liquids-rich assets, acquisitions in the upstream master limited partnership (MLP) sector seem to be taking a more contrarian view.