XTO Energy said Tuesday it is acquiring privately held Hunt Petroleum for $4.19 billion in cash and stock in a deal made more attractive by high oil and gas prices.

XTO Energy said the deal includes $2.6 billion in cash and 23.5 million shares of XTO stock. The stock portion of the deal is valued at about $1.6 billion, or $67.50 per XTO share.

The company said it would pay the $2.6 billion cash portion from its cash flow and borrowing, although it didn't provide a breakdown.

XTO shares rose $2.73, or 4 percent, to $70.45 in morning trading Tuesday.

Fort Worth-based XTO estimates Hunt's properties' proved reserves total about 1.052 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent.

XTO said that at expected oil and gas prices, the deal should generate more than $1.2 billion in cash flow next year.

It could add 197 million cubic feet of natural gas, 8,500 barrels of oil and 2,300 barrels of natural gas liquids to XTO's daily production, the company said.

About 70 percent of the properties are in east Texas, central and northern Louisiana. Most of the rest are along the Gulf Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, with a small percentage in the North Sea.

XTO President Keith A. Hutton said the Hunt properties overlap with XTO's efforts to extract gas and oil from sand formations and carbonates. He said the Hunt assets would let XTO increase production in the east Texas and Louisiana region by 15 percent per year.

The acquisition is expected to close around Sept. 3, subject to antitrust clearance.

XTO produces oil and natural gas in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, Colorado, Alaska, Utah, Mississippi and Montana.