Riverstone backs company for Barnett Shale deals
NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Energy private equity fund Riverstone Holdings said on Tuesday that it had made a significant capital commitment to oil and gas company Titan Operating LLC for acquisitions and developments in northern Texas' Barnett Shale.
The size of the investment was not disclosed.
Titan is run by Hollis Sullivan, Mark Schumacher and Christopher Hammack, all of whom have experience in the Barnett Shale.
Sullivan has led various ventures in the region for 20 years, Riverstone said, and Schumacher and Hammack ran ventures in the Barnett for Encana Corp (ECA.TO) and Range Resources Corp (RRC.N), respectively.
The Barnett shale is one of the largest unconventional natural gas fields in the United States and has already been a boon to companies like Devon Energy Corp (DVN.N) and Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK.N).
In a shale formation holding natural gas, the gas is locked tightly in rock. Technology like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling is needed to break up the shale and release the gas.
Daily production in the Barnett has more than doubled since late 2006 to about 4 billion cubic feet per day, aided by improved well results. Wood Mackenzie expects the field to reach peak production of 6.7 Bcfd in 2013. (Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
