Nov. 11--Crusader Energy Group announced Monday it earned $16.4 million, or 8 cents a share, net income during the third quarter of 2008.

Officials said that compares with $3.6 million in net income made by a predecessor company, Knight Energy Group, during the same time in 2007.

Crusader went public during 2008, when its Oklahoma City-based Knight Energy Group and other associated private companies -- Knight Energy Group, Knight Energy Group II, RCH Upland Acquisition, Hawk Energy Fund I, and others -- acquired Westside Energy Corp. of Dallas.

Today, Crusader produces oil and natural gas from domestic basins, and is focused on developing unconventional fields using horizontal drilling.

Areas where Crusader is active include Oklahoma's Anadarko Basin, the Barnett Shale natural gas field in Texas and the Bakken Shale oil field in Montana and North Dakota.

$250M load secured David D. Le Norman, Crusader's president and chief executive, said Monday he's pleased with the new public company's performance, so far.

"We have worked hard to integrate the entities associated with the Westside Transaction from both an accounting and operational perspective. We have accomplished these tasks while keeping our focus on the efficient development of Crusader's reserves," Le Norman said.

He added that the company has secured a $250 million loan to consolidate and retire previous debts of the merged entities and to pay for capital expenditures without tapping into a $140 million senior line of credit.

"These funding sources, coupled with our anticipated development programs and initiatives, should be sufficient to fund Crusader for the foreseeable future while remaining flexible to add or subtract from the programs based upon the macroeconomic environment," he said.

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