Pennzoil Acquires 8% Stake in Gas, Mining Company

Pennzoil Co. disclosed that it has acquired an 8% stake in Burlington Resources Inc., a large natural gas and mining company, revealing for the first time how it might spend its $3-billion takeover cache.

In New York Stock Exchange composite trading today, Burlington’s stock soared $8.62 1/2 to $47.87 1/2 a share, from $39.25 on Friday.

Pennzoil spokesman Bob Harper said Sunday that his company filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday because it had exceeded 5% ownership of the stock of another company.

Pennzoil said it purchased almost 8.6 million shares of Burlington stock for about $300 million and another 3.4 million shares as a result of a distribution by Burlington Northern Inc. Burlington Resources was spun off last year from Burlington Northern.