Hess to launch IPO to back Bakken ambitions

Hess Corp. said Wednesday it would use a new corporate structure to support its growth objectives in the Bakken oil reserve area of North Dakota.

The company said it would form a master limited partnership that would make an initial public offering in the first quarter of 2015.

"Hess intends to use the master limited partnership as the primary midstream vehicle to support its Bakken production growth," the company said in a statement.

Hess in January said it plans to spend $2.85 billion of the $5.8 billion budgeted this year for exploration and production on exploiting shale reserves, mostly in North Dakota.

The company said the master limited partnership would work largely toward development of a natural gas processing plant and rail terminals in North Dakota.

Oil production from the Bakken and Three Forks area of North Dakota topped the 1 million barrel per day mark for the first time this year. A lack of infrastructure means much of the natural gas associated with oil deposits in the state is burned off.

There isn't enough pipeline capacity in the state to handle the amount of oil produced, which energy companies say leaves rail as the primary transit alternative.