EOG to Buy Encino for $5.6 Billion, Expanding in Utica Basin (1)

EOG Resources Inc., the biggest US independent shale producer, reached a deal to buy explorer Encino Acquisition Partners for $5.6 billion including debt, marking one of its biggest tie-ups and first in almost a decade.

EOG will fund the purchase from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Encino Energy with $3.5 billion of debt and $2.1 billion of cash, according to a statement Friday.

The move will give EOG access to an additional 675,000 acres in Appalachia’s Utica shale basin, more than doubling its position there. The area has a total pro forma production of 275,000 barrels of ...