Privately held Riata Energy Inc., Oklahoma City, has changed its name to SandRidge Energy Inc. SandRidge chairman and chief executive Tom L. Ward says, "Our name change represents a new horizon for the company as we expand our employee base and work toward our potential acquisition of NEG Oil & Gas to create SandRidge Energy Inc. The name (Sand) reflects our challenge of searching for high-rate natural gas wells in conventional sands. Furthermore, (Ridge) symbolizes the type of geological characteristic we most covet when drilling wells. We will maintain our subsidiary names such as Lariat, ROC and PetroSource."