National Fuel to Spin Off Integrated Upstream and Gathering
The natural gas company's board approved a tax-free split that would leave two independent public companies with distinct growth strategies.
National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) said its board approved a tax-free spin-off of Integrated Upstream and Gathering, a move intended to create two independent, publicly traded companies, each with significant scale, a strong financial profile, and distinct growth strategies for long-term value creation.
The company said the separation is expected to close in the second half of calendar year 2027.
“After a thorough review, we believe now is the right time to take the next step in National Fuel’s evolution, with the tax-free separation of IUG positioning the two standalone businesses to build on their strong foundations and pursue the significant opportunities we see across the natural gas value chain.”
The board framed the split as a step in National Fuel’s evolution rather than a sale of the upstream and gathering assets. The company said each of the two businesses would retain significant scale and a strong financial profile, with growth strategies that differ from one another.
The timing sits against a year in which National Fuel completed a large regulated-utility acquisition. On October 1, 2026, the company closed its purchase of CenterPoint Energy’s Ohio natural gas utility, Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio, LLC, which was renamed National Fuel Gas Distribution of Ohio, LLC. That deal, agreed in October 2025 for $2.62 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis, doubled the company’s gas utility rate base and expanded operations into Ohio.
With the Ohio utility closed, National Fuel’s utility customer base grew to approximately 1.1 million customers. The company described the acquisition as a step in growing its regulated utility business and a platform for continued regulated investment.
Investor presentations through the first three quarters of fiscal 2026 still presented National Fuel as a diversified, integrated natural gas company spanning integrated upstream and gathering, regulated midstream pipeline and storage, and downstream utility operations, with about 1.2 million net acres in Appalachia, about 1.1 Bcf/day of net total production, 77 Bcf of storage capacity, and 756,000 utility customers before the Ohio close. Those materials also cited an investment-grade credit rating and a long record of consecutive dividend payments and increases.
The spin-off is expected to close in the second half of calendar year 2027, after the Ohio utility has already been folded into the regulated side of the business. The company said the two resulting companies would each have significant scale and a strong financial profile, with distinct growth strategies.