BP scoops up BHP Billiton shale oil assets in US

Energy producer BP has bought BHP Billiton's shale oil and gas assets in the U.S. for $10.5 billion in a deal that will give it access to the fast-growing shale industry.

CEO Bob Dudley described the deal as a "transformational acquisition."

The company says the agreement will bring in oil and gas production and resources in the liquids-rich regions of the Permian and Eagle Ford basins in Texas and in the Haynesville gas basin in Texas and Louisiana.

BP's growth in the United States has been stalled in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which has cost the company some $65 billion.

But with oil prices now above $70 a barrel, shale exploration is seen as being profitable.