Constellation Energy to Acquire Retail Supplier ONEOK Energy Marketing Company

Constellation Energy has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 percent of ONEOK Energy Marketing Company (OEMC), a Tulsa, Okla., retail natural gas marketing company with 26,100 customers.

The purchase of OEMC, a subsidiary of ONEOK, Inc., for $22.5 million, plus working capital, expands Constellation Energy's business and residential customer base in seven states: Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Illinois.

Aside from transportation programs, ONEOK Energy Marketing Company is active in the Choice Gas programs in Nebraska and Wyoming. Stated another way, ONEOK Energy Marketing Company's residential service is limitd to Nebraska and Wyoming.

The addition of ONEOK Energy Marketing Company's retail natural gas marketing business will push Constellation's retail book to nearly 1.1 million customers.

ONEOK, Inc. reported that retail gas marketing produced net margin of $10.0 million for fiscal year 2010.

"We determined that retail natural gas marketing is no longer a core business to ONEOK and have made the decision to exit the business," said Pierce H. Norton, ONEOK chief operating officer.

ONEOK will continue its wholesale natural gas marketing activities through its energy services business segment.

ONEOK Energy Marketing Company currently employs 39, with 14 employees located in Tulsa and the remaining located in various locations in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Wyoming.

The definitive agreement is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2012.