Enable Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: ENBL) has closed an $80 million deal for gas gathering assets from Monarch Natural Gas LLC.

The company is buying natural gas gathering assets in the Texas Panhandle, including 88 miles of pipeline.

Enable, headquartered in Oklahoma City, owns natural gas and crude oil infrastructure assets.

Given the volatility in oil prices, experts expect upstream energy companies, which focus more on drilling, to look to sell, and midstream energy companies, which focus more on transportation, storage and marketing, to be stronger. That means we may see midstream companies picking up assets from struggling upstream companies. For more on the energy sector, including on both upstream and midstream oil companies, see 5 Ways Plummeting Energy Prices are Changing Mergers & Acquisitions.

M&A in the energy sector is heating up as buyers can acquire assets at a discount, as some companies struggled due to a drop in crude oil prices. Recent deals in the space include Utica Gas Services LLC's deal for Utica East Ohio Midstream for $575 million in April, and Dominion Midstream Partners LP's (NSYE: DM) purchase of Dominion Carolina Gas Transmission LLC for $495 million, also in April. For more on that trend, see Investors Flow Into Oil & Gas