Canadian energy company Encana Corp. said Monday it acquired Texas rival Athlon Energy to become one of the largest oil players in the Permian shale basin.

"This transformative acquisition further accelerates our strategy and provides us with a prime position in what is widely acknowledged as one of North America's top oil plays," Encana President and Chief Executive Officer Doug Suttles said in a statement.

Ecanana paid cash for the acquisition, giving the Canadian company control over 140,000 net acres in the Permian shale basin in Texas.

Permian production increased 58 percent from 2007 to reach 1.35 million bpd last year, which represents 18 percent of total U.S. crude oil production.

In a July brief, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said the Permian basin has exceeded production from offshore Gulf of Mexico since 2013.

Encana said the transaction will add about 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent to its portfolio. The company said it could drill as many as 5,000 wells in the Permian acquisition area.

"During our strategic review last year, we carefully studied North America's premier basins and identified the massive horizontal, multi-zone, development potential in the Permian," Suttles said.