Duke Energy and ConocoPhillips completed a restructuring of their ownership in Duke Energy Field Services with Duke Energy receiving, directly and indirectly through its ownership interest in DEFS, $1.1 billion in cash and assets from ConocoPhillips and ConocoPhillips receiving a 19.7% stake in the field services company. The transaction creates an equal 50% share in DEFS for both companies.

“We believe a 50-50 joint venture between the two parent companies is a better fit than an uneven ownership split,” said Duke Energy Chairman Paul Anderson. “And with such a strong price environment, we felt the time was right to monetize a portion of the DEFS business.

“Duke Energy remains committed to our partnership with ConocoPhillips, and to preserving DEFS’ industry-leading performance, strong financial position and investment-grade ratings,” Anderson said.

DEFS Chairman William Easter III said, “Given the strong support from our parent companies, we are excited about future growth opportunities at DEFS, including the possible formation of a new master limited partnership.”

ConocoPhillips also reported that the transfer of its interest in the Empress System to Duke Energy, originally envisioned as part of the transaction, has been delayed pending repairs to the assets, which were damaged in a recent thunderstorm. In lieu of the Empress facilities in western Canada, Duke received the equivalent value in cash.

The transaction includes the transfer of all of DEFS’ Canadian assets to Duke Energy Gas Transmission (DEGT). The DEFS Canadian business consists of natural gas gathering and processing facilities in Alberta and British Columbia.

Denver-based DEFS is among the nation’s top field service companies with 57 processing plants and 58,000 miles of pipeline. It current handles volumes of 6.8 TBtu/d of natural gas and 356,000 Bbls/d of NGLs.

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