Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with words kerkorian+oil. 3 news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks drifted slightly lower at the open Monday, the final session of 2007, amid sharply lower volume. Early action saw shares of Delta Petroleum Corp. jump as much as 24% to $19.30 a share after Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. announced it was taking a 35% stake in the company at $19 a share. But the news failed to spur gains elsewhere in the group. The Amex Oil Index was off 0.2% at 1,574 points, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index was down 1% at 303, and the Amex Natural Gas Index was essentially unchanged at 580 points.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp will pay $684 million to acquire a 35 percent stake in Delta Petroleum Corp , the independent oil and gas company said on Monday.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Delta Petroleum Corp. jumped in Monday pre-market trading after the oil and gas exploration and development company said it would sell a 35% stake to Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp., a move that will help Delta fund its development and drilling activities in Colorado and Utah.