Noble Energy Inc. said Monday it was moving into two Texas shale basins with the $2.1 billion acquisition of rival Rosetta Resources.

Noble moved to acquire all the common stocks of Rosetta Resources, which hold more than 100,000 net acres in two premier Texas shale basins.

"I am excited to announce this strategic transaction which adds two exceptional and material areas to our global portfolio," Dave Stover, Noble's top executive, said in a statement. "The Eagle Ford and the Permian are premier unconventional resource plays, two of the most economic in the United States, which will expand our resource base and development inventory and further diversify our portfolio."

Texas is the No. 1 oil producer in the nation. The Railroad Commission of Texas, the state's energy regulator, said preliminary data from February, the last full month for which data are available, show crude oil production averaged 2.34 million barrels per day. That's an increase of 5.2 percent, or 117,550 barrels, from January and 17 percent higher than February 2014.

Assets controlled by Rosetta yielded more than 66,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the first quarter of the year. Noble said it expects that could increase by as much as 15 percent "over the next several years."

Noble's acquisition follows a trend set by its industry peers looking to streamline capital in a weak crude oil market. U.S. oil services company Halliburton is acquiring rival Baker Hughes and, overseas, Royal Dutch Shell is taking on British company BG Group in one of the largest deals in more than 20 years.

Noble and Rosetta have called on their respective boards of directors and shareholders to approve the transaction, which includes Noble's assumption of Rosetta's net debt of $1.8 billion.

"The deal will accelerate value delivery from our strong asset base, and the all-stock nature of the transaction will allow our shareholders to continue to reap that value growth across commodity price cycles," Rosetta's Jim Craddock said.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.