Spinning

Murphy Oil Corp. said Tuesday it is spinning off its downstream operations to focus on North American and overseas exploration and production (E&P) opportunities.

ConocoPhillips, which is spinning off its refinery assets to create a pure-play explorer, has agreed to sell its interests in two U.S. pipeline companies for a total of $2 billion. An agreement with a subsidiary of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec is for a 16.55% stake in Colonial Pipeline Co. and Colonial Ventures LLC; the transaction is to close in 1Q2012. Definitive agreements also were reached with Enbridge Holdings (Seaway) LLC for a stake in Seaway Crude Pipeline Co., which is to close in December. Once closed, these transactions, along with sales already closed in 4Q2011, would total close to $10.5 billion by the end of 2012.

Denver-based Forest Oil Corp. is spinning off its natural gas-weighted operations in Canada by selling one-fifth of its Lone Pine Resources unit for up to $375 million in shares through an initial public offering (IPO).

Questar Corp. “returned to its roots” in 2Q2010 as an integrated natural gas company after spinning off its volatile exploration and production (E&P) unit in May.

Questar Corp. “returned to its roots” in 2Q2010 as an integrated natural gas company after spinning off its volatile exploration and production (E&P) unit in May.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. is spinning off a portion of its midstream assets to a joint venture it has formed with a private equity partner, the company said late Thursday. Such a deal has been in the works for a while. It continues Chesapeake’s asset monetization program and creates an entity that CEO Aubrey K. McClendon said could one day be among the country’s largest public midstream companies.

Calgary-based Paramount Resources Ltd. is spinning off its considerable Far North exploration assets in the Mackenzie River Valley as part of a long-range plan to finance growing exploration prospects there.

With Hurricane Florence spinning harmlessly off the East Coast and moderate temperatures engulfing large regions of the country, October natural gas futures on Monday continued to explore lower price levels. The prompt month put in a low for the day of $5.440 before settling at $5.670, down just half a penny on the day.

Duke Energy Corp. is spinning off its Canadian midstream business into an income fund and is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of trust units of the fund. The announcement in Canada Friday by Duke Energy Income Fund said a preliminary prospectus has been filed with securities regulatory authorities in all of the Canadian provinces.