Enron to Swap Oil Stake for Overseas Assets

Enron Corp. said it will swap about 75% of its Enron Oil & Gas Co. stake for overseas assets so that it can focus on energy marketing and risk-management businesses. After the deal is completed, EOG, now a partly owned subsidiary, would stand alone as a large independent oil and natural gas producer, ranking below such sector giants as Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Apache Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, Houston-based Enron would swap 62.27 million shares of EOG, worth about $1.2 billion, for the oil and gas company’s properties in China and India. Before the agreement made Tuesday, Enron owned just more than half of EOG, or 82 million of its 154 million outstanding shares. Enron’s stake in the exploration and production company would be cut to 20 million shares. On the NYSE, EOG stock rose 69 cents to close at $20.44, and Enron stock rose 25 cents to close at $85.56.

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