Kerr-McGee announces $1-billion stock buyback

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Kerr-McGee Corp. board of directors approved a $1-billion program to repurchase company stock.<br/><br/>The Oklahoma City-based oil and gas company said it plans to repurchase

Wednesday, January 11th 2006, 6:04 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Kerr-McGee Corp. board of directors approved a $1-billion program to repurchase company stock.

The Oklahoma City-based oil and gas company said it plans to repurchase approximately 10-million shares in the open market, the company announced in a statement Tuesday.

"We believe the current stock price does not reflect the value of the company's transformation into a pure-play exploration and production company with two large resource plays in the Rockies, identified production growth and meaningful unbooked discoveries," Kerr-McGee Chairman Luke Corbett said in a statement.

The buyback would reduce the total number of outstanding common shares about 9-percent to 106-million.

The company plans to begin the repurchases following the release of its 2005 financial results on Jan. 25, 2006.