(Reuters) - Canada's Pembina Pipeline said on Monday it will buy some infrastructure assets in Alberta Montney from oil producer Veren Inc for about C$400 million ($294.9 million), to strengthen its midstream operations.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Consolidation in the pipeline and storage sector has been on the rise since last year as North American production grows, and as hurdles in getting new energy infrastructure approved and built have made existing operators more valuable.

CONTEXT

Pembina Gas Infrastructure, which is jointly owned by KKR, will acquire four oil battery sites in the Gold Creek and Karr areas, which have a natural gas handling capacity of 320 million cubic feet per day and liquids handling capacity of 53,000 barrels per day.

Veren, formerly known as Crescent Point Energy, would retain operatorship of the Gold Creek and Karr sites and assume operatorship of the existing Pembina-owned batteries in the area.

Additionally, Veren would enter into a 15-year "take-or-pay" agreement for capacity at the acquired batteries.

BY THE NUMBERS

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024 and yield C$50 million in annual adjusted EBITDA, of which C$30 million is net to Pembina.

Veren's use of the proceeds will result in total expected debt reduction of C$1.3 billion in 2024.

($1 = 1.3565 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)