Hess Plans IPO for Bakken Assets

Hess to form a MLP holding pipeline and other assets; file registration statement with regulators in Q4. Expects to launch an IPO in 1st-quarter of 2015.

Oil and natural gas producer Hess Corp said it plans to form a publicly traded master limited partnership (MLP) comprising its pipeline and storage assets in North Dakota's Bakken oil shale field.

The company's shares rose nearly 5 percent to $103.99 in light premarket trading on Wednesday.

Hess said it expected the MLP to file a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the fourth quarter.

An initial public offering will likely be launched in the first quarter of 2015, Hess said.

Master limited partnerships (MLPs) have found favor with oil and gas producers as they pay no corporate taxes, lowering the cost of capital.

Hess said the MLP would hold a natural gas processing plant, a crude oil truck, a pipeline terminal and a rail loading terminal in Tioga, North Dakota.

The MLP will also include a propane storage cavern as well as related rail and truck loading and storage terminals in Mentor, Minnesota, the company said.

Hess, which has been shedding downstream assets to focus on more profitable shale drilling in the United States, had said in April that it would retain a majority stake in the pipeline MLP.

The company sold its retail and transport business for $2.87 billion to Marathon Petroleum Corp in May.

Hess has also sold oil, gas and other assets outside its core U.S. exploration and production business, following pressure from activist investor Paul Singer's hedge fund Elliott Management LP. The two settled their proxy fight last year.

Until Tuesday's close of $99.42, Hess's shares have risen nearly 20 percent this year on the New York Stock Exchange.

Reporting by Swetha Gopinath