McMoRan Exploration ( MMR ) soars 21% premarket after the FT reports Freeport McMoRan ( FCX ) is looking to get back into the energy production business, with MMR acquisition target #1. Another possibility is Plains Exploration ( PXP ), which has ties to both FCX and MMR. 5 comments! It's official : Freeport McMoRan ( FCX ) will acquire Plains Exploration ( PXP ) for ~$6.9B in cash and stock, and acquire McMoran Exploration ( MMR ) for ~$3.4B in cash, or $2.1B net of 36% of the MMR interests currently owned by FCX and PXP. MMR +74.3% , PXP +25.2% , FXC -13.2% premarket. 8 ... McMoRan Exploration ( MMR ) now up 50%  premarket as the WSJ says Freeport McMoRan's acquisition could be valued at close to $20B and may be announced today. Plains Exploration ( PXP ) - also maybe a target - gains 25% . FCX -9.3% premarket. 1 comment! McMoRan Exploration ( MMR ) says recent operations designed to unblock the troubled Davy Jones No. 1 well have achieved " limited success " so far. Also, the Blackbeard West No. 2 ultra-deep exploration well was drilled to a depth of ~25K feet, and MMR plans to set a production liner, which would ... McMoRan Exploration ( MMR ) -8.5% premarket on top of yesterday's steep slide , as J.P. Morgan piles on with negative comments. Yesterday's update of its Gulf of Mexico activities only raised more questions about Davy Jones' ability to produce gas, the firm says, adding ominously: " we calculate ... McMoRan Exploration ( MMR +4.8% ) shares are strong today on no apparent news; MMR declared quarterly cash dividends on its preferred stocks, but the common shares had surged well before the announcement. Post your comment! McMoRan Exploration ( MMR ) -9.2% premarket following another negative update from its Davy Jones No. 1 well, as recent operations to stimulate the well by injecting a solvent to dissolve barite in the perforations had limited success. This follows last week's Davy Jones update, which sent shares ... McMoRan Exploration ( MMR ): Q3 EPS of -$0.40 misses by $0.27 . Revenue of $91.8M (-33% Y/Y) beats by $7M . ( PR ) Post your comment! Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the McMoRan Exploration Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Participants will be limited to one question in the QnA session. If you have additional ... Welcome to the McMoRan Exploration Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Participants will be limited to one question in the QnA session. If you have additional follow-up questions, please re-enter the queue ...