Chevron (CVX.N) has agreed to buy Hess (HES.N) for $53 billion in stock to gain a bigger U.S. oil footprint and a stake in rival Exxon Mobil's (XOM.N) massive Guyana discoveries, the latest in a series of blockbuster U.S. oil combinations.

The Chevron deal announced on Monday and a $60 billion acquisition by Exxon earlier this month will add years of oil and gas production to the two top U.S. producers' portfolios, much of it from U.S. shale. And the deals will leave European oil rivals that had shifted their focus to renewable energy further behind in fossil fuels.

"This is great for energy security: It brings together two great American companies," said Chevron CEO Michael Wirth, who has bulked up the company's shale oil and gas holdings by acquiring U.S. rivals PDC Energy and Noble Energy.

The combination of Hess, PDC and Noble will bring Chevron's total oil and gas output to about 3.7 million barrels per day (bpd). It will expand Chevron's shale output by 40% to 1.3 million bpd, putting it neck and neck with Exxon's projected shale output following its Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD.N) acquisition.

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