Nov 13 (Reuters) - Coterra Energy ( CTRA ) said on

Wednesday it would buy certain assets of privately held Avant

Natural Resources and Franklin Mountain Energy for $3.95 billion

in cash and stock deals, as the U.S. oil and gas producer aims

to expand in the Permian Basin.

Producers have been increasingly looking towards the

prolific Permian Basin to increase their inventory. Lying

between Texas and New Mexico, the basin's shale oil output is

highly productive, with large, undeveloped reserves and robust

infrastructure.

Coterra's announcement comes days after the company reported

a third-quarter profit miss, weighed down by weaker oil and gas

prices.

The deals would increase Coterra's New Mexico and Permian

net locations by about 75% and 25%, respectively, the company

said.

The company said the acquired assets will add "significant

oil volumes in 2025".

Coterra expects to fund the purchases with $2.95 billion in

cash and the sale of 40.9 million shares of the company's common

stock to certain sellers, which is valued at about $1 billion,

it said.

The transactions are expected to close during the first

quarter of 2025.

The company said the deals would add total equivalent

production of 60,000 to 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day

to Coterra's output.