Hess Corp said on Wednesday it would form a master limited partnership (MLP) for its North Dakota oil and natural gas storage facilities and processing plants, taking advantage of a key financial trend in the energy sector to generate cash.The company, which produces oil in North Dakota, Iraq and Ghana, also posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, sending its shares to levels not seen since before the 2008 recession.Hess plans to launch the MLP in the first quarter of 2015, giving the new entity, which will trade like equity, control over several assets in Tioga, North Dakota, including a newly opened natural gas processing plant and a crude oil pipeline terminal.Hess will retain control over the MLP in its role as general partner. An MLP conversion has been extremely popular among pipeline and energy transportation companies for the past few years, with Kinder Morgan, El Paso Pipeline Partners LP and others taking advantage of the tax structure.
El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. owns and operates interstate natural gas transportation and terminaling facilities. Shares of EPB fell by 0.61% or $-0.21/share to $34.13. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $28.87 and as high as $43.15. On average, 690349 shares of EPB exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 562010.
Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI) owns and manages a diversified portfolio of energy transportation and storage assets. Shares of KMI traded higher by 0.35% or $0.13/share to $37.30. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $30.81 and as high as $38.30. On average, 5443920 shares of KMI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 4308055.
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