With a robust energy M&A market expected for 2007, the ranks of seasoned upstream and oil-service management teams looking to replicate their past success will surely swell. Fortunately for them, the amount of private capital available to the energy sector is reaching flood-stage proportions. According to one energy-capital source in Connecticut, some $30 billion of dedicated private-equity is now available for investment in the global oil and gas sector versus just $2 billion in 1998. True, a lot of this money is flowing from momentum investors, such as hedge funds, attracted to the 25% to 30% annual returns-and much higher-now being generated by sponsored start-ups in the energy space. But much of this private capital is also coming from seasoned energy-fund managers like First Reserve, Warburg Pincus, Yorktown Partners, Natural Gas Partners, Lime Rock Partners and Avista Capital Partners, most of which have continued to raise larger and larger pools of capital for E&P and service-sector investment during the past several years. For more on this, see the January issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.
Recommended Reading
CGG to Change Name to Viridien
2024-05-17 - The company’s new ticker symbol will be “VIRI” and listed on Euronext Paris, effective May 21.
Sector’s Appetite for Capital Remains Amid Consolidation Frenzy, Panelists Say
2024-05-17 - There’s still an appetite for capital in the oil and gas sector—companies just need to think creatively to find it, a number of panelists said during SUPER DUG in Fort Worth, Texas.
SilverBow Resets Shareholder Meeting After $2.1B Crescent Deal
2024-05-16 - SilverBow Resources said it will adjourn its May 21 shareholders’ meeting until May 29 following Crescent Energy’s agreement to buy the Eagle Ford operator.
Blue Racer Midstream Prices Senior Notes Offering
2024-05-15 - Net proceeds from the sale of senior notes will be used to pay off debt and other general corporate purposes.
Petrobras CEO Prates to Step Down
2024-05-15 - Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has requested that Petrobras CEO Jean Paul Prates resign following a dispute over dividend payments.