Oil and gas producers Consol Energy and Noble Energy said Thursday that they plan to form a new publicly traded joint venture that will operate natural-gas pipelines in the Marcellus Shale region in the Eastern U.S.
The two companies said they plan to create a master limited partnership. Consol and Noble said they filed confidential paperwork to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about the joint venture's initial public offering.
The offering is expected to be completed before the end of the year. According to Consol's press release, following the closing of the initial public offering, CONSOL Energy and Noble Energy will "control the general partner of the MLP, which will own the incentive distribution rights, and will collectively own a majority of the limited partner interests of the MLP."
Shares of both companies rose slightly in premarket trading after the announcement.
