NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Oil and gas producer Petrohawk Energy Corp. said Tuesday it has priced a public offering of 25 million shares of stock at $26.53 a share _ its closing price Monday.

The company announced the offering Monday as a way to pay down debt and fund operations.

Petrohawk said the offering is expected to settle and close Aug. 15, subject to customary closing conditions.

Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch will be the lead underwriters of the offering, and will have the option to purchase 3.75 million additional shares of Petrohawk within 30 days.

After the offering the company will have about 247.2 million shares outstanding. Petrohawk also made public offerings in February and May 2008, and placed senior notes in May and June.

Petrohawk shares added 42 cents to $26.87 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $13.77 and $54.49 in the past year.