Questar Corporation was a

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

public utility A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

based in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. In September 2016, the company was acquired by

Dominion Resources Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is a North American power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas t ...

History

Questar Corporation was organized in Utah in 1984 as the

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

for Mountain Fuel Supply Company. In 1922, the Ohio Oil Company discovered natural gas near

Rock Springs, Wyoming Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 23,036 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state of Wyoming, and the most populous city in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs is ...

. Ohio Oil merged with two other companies to form the Western Public Service Corporation in October 1928. Mountain Fuel Supply Company became the company's

hydrocarbon exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

and production affiliate. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, its stock price fell from $46/share in September 1929 to $3/share in 1932 as most families could not afford natural gas. In 1935, the shareholders voted to reorganize the company, merging it with its subsidiaries and moving its headquarters from Pittsburgh to Salt Lake City. Mountain Fuel Supply Company became the name of the reorganized consolidated company. In the mid-1930s, the company discovered natural gas in the Clay Basin region northeast of Utah. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the company was required by the

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Sup ...

to halt new natural gas utility signups so that resources can be conserved for the war effort. In 1946, the company discovered the Church Buttes field in southwestern Wyoming. In 1971, the company acquired Interstate Brick, the largest brick-making facility in the Western United States. It was sold in 1990. In 1972, the company discovered the Brady field, about 30 miles southeast of Wyoming. In 1976, certain shareholders attempted to replace management. At issue was whether management would "acknowledge or act upon the fact that the company was more of an oil company than a natural gas utility". In 1984, Mountain Fuel Supply Company shareholders voted to return to the holding company structure, and chose the name Questar Corporation as the new parent holding company name. In 1989, the company established a subsidiary, Questar Telecom, which acquired

specialized mobile radio Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) may be an analog or digital trunked two-way radio system, operated by a service in the VHF, 220, UHF, 700, 800 or 900 MHz bands. Some systems with advanced features are referred to as an Enhanced Specialized Mo ...

operations. It also formed FuelMaker, a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

to market a new device that would allow

natural gas vehicle A natural gas vehicle (NGV) is an alternative fuel vehicle An alternative fuel vehicle is a motor vehicle that runs on alternative fuel rather than traditional petroleum fuels (petrol or diesel fuel, petrodiesel). The term also refers to an ...

s to be refueled at home. In 1993, the company had three major lines of business: exploration and production activities conducted by Wexpro Company, Celsius Energy Company, and Universal Resources Corporation; interstate transmission activities conducted by Questar Pipeline Company; and retail distribution activities conducted by Mountain Fuel. In 1994, it acquired oil and gas properties from

Union Pacific Resources The Union Pacific Corporation (Union Pacific) is a publicly traded railroad holding company. It was incorporated in Utah in 1969 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the parent company of the current, Delaware-registered, form of the ...

for $94.5 million. In August 1994, Questar Telecom was sold to

Nextel Communications Nextel Communications, Inc. was an American wireless service operator that merged with and ceased to exist as a subsidiary of Sprint Corporation, which would later be bought by T-Mobile US and folded into that company. Nextel in Brazil, and forme ...

for 3.9 million shares of stock. On January 1, 1998, Mountain Fuel Supply Company was renamed Questar Gas Company. In September 1998, the company acquired HSRTW Inc., which owned oil and gas reserves in Oklahoma, for $155 million. In 2001, the company acquired Shenandoah Energy for $406 million in cash and assumed debt. In April 2003, D. N. "Nick" Rose, president and chief executive officer of Questar, retired and was replaced by Alan K. Allred. In 2005, Knox Lawrence International acquired Consonus Inc., Consonus Inc., a Questar Corp. subsidiary that managed computer

data center A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunic ...

s for businesses. In November 2006, the company was added to the

S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of D ...

. It was removed from the index in 2010. On July 1, 2010, the company completed the

corporate spin-off A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, or starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active. Characte ...

of its exploration and production business as QEP Resources. In December 2015, Tesoro Logistics LP acquired its natural-gas pipeline and processing business for $2.5 billion in cash. In 2021, QEP Resources was acquired by

Diamondback Energy Diamondback Energy is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration headquartered in Midland, Texas. As of December 31, 2020, the company had of estimated proved reserves, of which 52% was petroleum, 24% was natural gas, and 24% was natural ga ...

. In March 2012, the company moved from 180 East 100 South to its new headquarters building, a $45 million 170,000 square foot 6-story building at 333 South State Street in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It is one of the first

LEED Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

energy-efficient buildings in downtown Salt Lake City. In September 2016, the company was acquired by

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Questar Corporation (Gas Company) 1928 establishments in Utah 2015 disestablishments in Utah 2016 mergers and acquisitions Defunct energy companies of the United States Energy companies established in 1928 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1928 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 2015