Tailwater Capital LLC recently launched a royalties business led by former Concho Resources executive Doug Prieto to deepen the firm’s investment in key U.S. basins.

“Tailwater’s full immersion approach to energy and growth infrastructure has set us apart as nimble, creative investors who take a long-term approach,” Edward Herring, co-founder and managing partner of Tailwater, commented in a company release on Nov. 5.

Based in Dallas, Tailwater currently manages more than $3.7 billion in committed capital and the team has executed more than 100 energy transactions in the upstream and midstream sectors representing over $22 billion in transaction value.

The recently formed Tailwater Royalties LLC will focus on the acquisition of minerals and royalties across multiple basins throughout North America, including the Permian Basin, Williston, Eagle Ford and Rockies. Through the new entity, Tailwater said it seeks to leverage its positioning and insights to invest in diversified, value-add strategies. 

“We believe the initiatives planned by Tailwater Royalties will continue to help us build diversified positions for thought leadership in the energy space,” Herring added.

Prieto, who will lead Tailwater Royalties as president, most recently served as vice president of land and midstream for Concho Resources where, in addition to leading multiple departments and overseeing the owner relations group and the joint interest ventures group, he was responsible for Concho’s nonoperated, mineral and royalty portfolios.

Prior to Concho, Prieto also served as an executive of several sponsor-backed portfolio companies including Atlantic Resources Co. LLC, a horizontal developer of oil and gas assets in the Permian Basin. He began his career practicing oil and gas law at Lynch, Chappell, Alsup, P.C. in Midland, Texas.

Also joining Tailwater Royalties will be Quillan Harris, who will serve as the new entity’s vice president. Harris is an experienced petroleum engineer and third generation oil and gas professional that brings a complementary background and deep ties to Midland. 

For the past six years, Harris led the engineering group for OGX Resources and Santa Elena Minerals, related operating and royalty acquisition entities. Prior to this role, he served in a variety of technical roles in production and completions engineering in the Permian and Rockies basins, and in domestic and international reservoir engineering roles for Marathon Oil.

“We are excited to welcome two sophisticated operators and seasoned professionals in Doug and Quillan to lead this effort for Tailwater, both of whom bring incredible enthusiasm and a breadth of experience,”  Jason Downie, co-founder and managing partner of Tailwater, said in the release.

Paul Lee, entrepreneur-in-residence of Tailwater, will also work closely with Tailwater Royalties to execute on its near- and long-term growth objectives, according to the release.