640M

Houston-based Newfield Exploration Co. has pumped up its core South Texas natural gas assets and more important, moved into the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico, with the acquisition of cross-town peer EEX Corp. The transaction is valued at $640 million, including debt, and has already been approved by both boards of directors. Newfield, already dominant along the Outer Continental Shelf, gained its first foothold in deeper water, picking up 68 lease blocks, most of which EEX was exploring with Shell Oil Co.