Business energy briefs for Jan. 11

Devon Energy Corp. will host a career fair this month to fill more than 250 jobs. Qualified applicants can register on the company's website for the Devon Energy Petro-Professional Career Fair, which will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Jan. 22. Devon is looking for experienced professionals with backgrounds in engineering, geosciences, division orders, regulatory affairs and environmental health and safety. The company has about 280 positions to fill, including some left open by employees who declined to move to Oklahoma City after Devon shuttered its Houston office.

Rose Rock acquires pipeline stake

TULSA — Rose Rock Midstream LP has agreed to acquire a 33 percent stake in SemCrude Pipeline LLC for $273.9 million. The deal with parent company SemGroup Corp. gives Rose Rock a 17 percent stake in the White Cliffs Pipeline, a 527-mile crude oil line that runs from Colorado to the storage hub at Cushing. A planned expansion project will increase the line's transportation capacity to 150,000 barrels a day by the middle of 2014. “We are excited to announce our first drop down transaction for Rose Rock Midstream, which will be immediately accretive to the partnership's common unit holders,” CEO Norm Szydlowski said. “This acquisition supports our strategic plan and is complementary to our existing crude-based business.”

SemGroup announces dividend

TULSA — SemGroup Corp. expects to pay a quarterly cash dividend to common shareholders beginning in the second quarter, the company announced this week. The dividend is meant as a pass-through for the majority of the cash distributions received by SemGroup from its interests in Rose Rock Midstream LP and NGL Energy Partners LP. “In the past three years, since becoming a public company, we undertook a number of initiatives to improve the stability of our cash flows and to position the company to benefit from the significant growth potential in the midstream oil and gas sector,” CEO Norm Szydlowski said. “Our intention to initiate a cash dividend reflects our confidence in our future cash flows. It is another important step in our commitment to deliver value to shareholders.”