Range Resources buying Stroud Energy

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 11 (UPI) -- Range Resources Corp. will pay $450 million for Stroud Energy Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas, in a deal set to close next month.

Upon closing, Range will own about 35,300 net acres in the Barnett Shale, a reference to a petroleum-rich geological stratum that Range intends to exploit, the Dallas Business Journal reported Thursday.

"Nearly all" of Stroud's workers will transfer to Range, which is assuming about $82 million in debt to acquire Stroud, the newspaper said.