XTO Energy Inc, the natural gas producer, said on Tuesday it has agreed to acquire privately held Hunt Petroleum Corp for about $4.2 billion.

Under the agreement, XTO Energy will pay $2.6 billion in cash and $1.6 billion in common stock.

The majority of these producing assets extend across East Texas and Louisiana where XTO is the leading natural gas producer. They are a natural complement to our operations, said Bob Simpson, XTO's chief executive officer.

The purchase will give XTO an additional daily output of 197 million cubic feet of natural gas, 8,500 barrels of oil and 2,300 barrels of natural gas liquids, the company said in a statement. XTO engineers determined that Hunt's properties have about 1.052 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent, with 62 percent of that already developed.

The addition of hunt will also give XTO over $1.2 billion in annual cash flow next year, Simpson said.

The company expects the deal to close by September 3 of this year.

Shares of XTO fell 48 cents, or 0.71 percent to $67.25 in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Energy