EQT Corp. announced it has agreed to pay about $280 million -- 90 percent in stock and 10 percent cash -- to acquire 58,000 acres of land in the geographical formation known as the Marcellus Shale that holds natural gas.

According to the Downtown energy company's official statement, the land is mainly in Cameron, Clearfield, Elk and Jefferson counties. It is owned by private operators and landowners.

The deal, expected to close around the end of April, will boost EQT's holdings to more than 500,000 acres in what the company described as the "high-pressure Marcellus Shale fairway." The property includes approximately 100 producing vertical wells.

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