Quest Energy Partners LP, Oklahoma City, (Nasdaq: QELP) says it has suspended distributions on its common units, beginning with those from the fourth quarter of 2008 that were scheduled to be paid in mid-February.

The company says the decision to suspend distributions was based on its board's "desire to ensure [Quest Energy Partners] has sufficient liquidity to properly conduct operations, maintain strategic options, and comply with the terms of its debt instruments in light of the recent declines in natural gas prices and the maturity of its second lien loan at the end of September 2009."

Quest owns more than 2,300 wells and is the largest producer of natural gas in the Cherokee Basin in southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma.