This summer, the only thing hotter than the temperature is the oil and gas M&A market. Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s planned acquisitions of Kerr-McGee Corp. and Western Gas Resources Inc. for $23 billion is only the latest in a line of announcements. The second quarter alone has brought Devon Energy Corp.'s acquisition of Chief Oil & Gas LLC for $2.2 billion; Energy Partners Ltd. and Plains Exploration & Production Co.'s competing bids for Stone Energy Corp. for $2.2 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively; Petrohawk Energy Corp.'s acquisition of KCS Energy Inc. for $1.6 billion; and Apache Corp.'s purchase of Gulf of Mexico shelf properties from BP Plc for $1.3 billion. Others include Chesapeake Energy's purchase of Barnett Shale properties from Four Sevens and Sinclair Oil for $845 million; Pogo Producing Co.'s purchase of Latigo Petroleum Inc. for $750 million; and Range Resources Corp.'s acquisition of Stroud Energy Inc. for $450 million. This frenzied market has been prompted by several factors, but mostly by the "yawning chasm between robust oil and natural gas prices on the futures markets and the rather tepid prices implied in producers' equity valuations," according to John Thieroff, an energy credit analyst for Standard & Poor's. For more on this, see the August issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.