Business

Bismarck, ND-based MDU Resources Group Inc. plans to keep Fidelity E&P Co., the exploration and production (E&P) unit, off the sales block this year and instead plans to work to strengthen its value, CEO David Goodin said.

Calgary-based Gasfrac Energy Services Inc., a developer of waterless hydraulic fracturing technology, is seeking protection from creditors as it attempts a restructuring.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) gave a thumbs-down Thursday to Las Vegas, NV-based Southwest Gas Corp.’s ratings based on the natural gas-only utility’s purchase of some Canadian pipeline construction companies for more than $200 million.

Canada’s biggest public offering in 14 years, Encana Corp.’s PrairieSky Royalty Ltd., beat back all contenders on the Toronto Stock Exchange Thursday in its debut, closing more than 30% higher than at the open.

BP plc is taking a $521 million impairment on its Utica Shale acreage in Ohio and will not proceed with development in the play, top management said Tuesday.

Extreme winter weather during the first three months of this year helped BP plc grab the upside in domestic natural gas prices, which offset lower returns elsewhere in the group.

To improve its innovation and react more swiftly, BP plc plans to separate its U.S. onshore Lower 48 business.

GE Oil & Gas is buying Cameron’s reciprocating compression business for $550 million in a deal intended to leverage the expansion of shale gas development worldwide.

Continuing it’s transformation into a pure-play oil and natural gas exploration and production company, Hess Corp. has filed a Form 10 Registration Statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the formation of Hess Retail Corp., a subsidiary containing convenience stores and gasoline refueling stations that the New York-based energy company said it will then seek to sell.