M&A

China’s oldest oil and gas producer has established a toehold in Western Canada with a C$320 million ($288 million) takeover of a fledgling Alberta firm.

Encana Corp. could sell the Deep Panuke natural gas project offshore Nova Scotia, CFO Sherri Brillon said Tuesday.

Natural gas and oil engineering giant Amec plc has an offer on the table to acquire Foster Wheeler AG for $3.2 billion, a merger that would create an upstream and downstream oilfield services behemoth.

Following its plan to add utility assets, Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. said Thursday it has agreed to acquire the natural gas transmission pipeline and distribution utility assets of Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s utility pipeline operator, MGTC Inc., in Wyoming where Black Hills has existing combination utility operations.

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.

The Oneok Inc. board of directors on Wednesday unanimously approved the separation of the company’s natural gas distribution business into a stand-alone, publicly traded company to be called ONE Gas Inc.

Fieldwood Energy LLC said Tuesday it will add to its leadership position in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) by acquiring the offshore portfolio of SandRidge Energy Inc. in a transaction worth close to $1.2 billion.

Upstream operators were less enthusiastic about making big deals in 2013, and not nearly as glammed by unconventional natural gas and oil prospects as in years’ past, IHS Inc. researchers said.

EPL Oil & Gas Inc. continues its buying spree in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), agreeing Thursday to acquire five natural gas and oil leases off the coast of Louisiana, a purchase timed to an ongoing push to expand its portfolio of shallow water prospects.