M&A

In a “monster deal,” Williams (WMB) said Sunday it is paying about $6 billion to increase its ownership in Access Midstream Partners LP (ACMP). WMB then plans to merge its master limited partnership (MLP), Williams Partners LP (WPZ) with ACMP to create a midstream behemoth that will further mine the “supercycle” in energy.

Koch Industries Inc. unit Flint Hills Resources LLC is taking major propylene producer PetroLogistics LP and its general partner (PetroLogistics GP LLC) private in an all-cash deal worth about $2.1 billion.

Regulatory changes and commodity price volatility continue to be the major risks facing U.S. exploration and production (E&P) companies, based on recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K filings by the top 100 public companies.

Dealmaking volumes in the U.S. oil and natural gas industry hit their highest first quarter levels in more than 10 years on activity in the upstream sector and because of heightened foreign interest, PwC US reported Wednesday.

With its nuclear arm struggling against cheaper natural gas, Exelon Corp. on Wednesday said it is working on a $6.8 billion cash tie-up with Pepco Holdings Inc., a transaction that would create the top Mid-Atlantic electric and gas utility with close to 10 million customers.

Oil and natural gas companies that have provided data on upstream expenditures since 2000 spent more on exploration and development last year and less on property acquisitions, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Friday.

Houston-based, multi-basin player Hilcorp Energy Co. is buying BP plc’s interest in four operated oilfields on Alaska’s North Slope. The transaction streamlines BP’s operations there and expands the Alaska footprint of privately held Hilcorp beyond the Cook Inlet.

More stable commodity prices, private equity (PE) interest and a more focused portfolio approach by explorers led to a healthy merger and acquisition (M&A) market for oil and natural gas in the first quarter, with the United States taking more than a one-third share.

Encana Corp. has agreed to sell most of its Denver-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel distribution operations to Stabilis Energy, which also supplies gas fuel to oilfield service operators.