Cabot Oil & Gas, Cimarex to create $17 bln firm in 'surprise' merger

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp (COG.N) and Cimarex Energy Co (XEC.N) agreed a merger on Monday to form a U.S.-wide oil and gas firm with an enterprise value of some $17 billion, a deal analysts termed surprising in a sector recently focused on "pure-play" models. Cimarex shares tumbled 7.2% to...