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May 6 (Reuters) - EQT Corp, the largest U.S. natural gas producer, said on Thursday it will buy Blackstone-backed Appalachian basin rival Alta Resources for $2.93 billion in cash and stock, making an entry in the Northeast Marcellus shale play.

Dealmaking in the oil and gas space has been heating up as crude prices have jumped on a vaccine-led recovery in travel demand. Natural gas, in particular, hit record highs earlier in February when a winter storm swept parts of the United States.

The deal, which adds around one billion cubic feet equivalent gas production to EQT's portfolio, is expected to be accretive to free cash flow and net asset value per share, the company said.

EQT said it will pay $1 billion to Alta in cash and the rest in stock. It expects to fund the cash portion partly by drawing on its credit facilities and new debt. (Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)