VTX Energy to Spend Billions on Acquisitions as Capital Providers Remain on Sidelines

The flight of capital from the E&P space is among the limiting factors keeping the U.S. from responding to the growing global demand for crude and natural gas, VTX Energy CEO Gene Shepherd told DUG Permian and Eagle Ford attendees.

Darren

Barbee

Oil and Gas Investor

Thu, 05/19/2022 - 04:00 AM

VTX Energy to Spend Billions on Acquisitions as Capital Providers Remain on Sidelines

Shepherd also said VTX is willing to pay for inventory in its hunt for assets, preferably in the Permian and Williston basins. Pictured, Gene Shepherd speaking at a previous DUG Permian Basin conference and exhibition while serving as CEO of Brigham Resources. (Source: Hart Energy)

FORT WORTH, Texas—Gene Shepherd, CEO of VTX Energy Partners, is on the hunt for $1 billion deals in the U.S. Lower 48 and the Permian Basin in particular.

But what the founder and former president and CEO of Brigham Resources LLC finds concerning as he wades back into the industry is that strong oil prices and formidable E&P returns haven’t pushed capital providers to open up their wallets.

“The degree to which the financial community has been willing to overlook what appeared to me be very attractive returns and … the practical needs of the growing global economy—that’s alarming,” Shepherd said at Hart Energy’s DUG Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Conference and Exhibition on May 18. “That’s a little bit alarming.”

VTX is backed by Vitol, a global commodities trading firm that trades about 7.6 million barrels of oil and other productions daily. Vitol, Shepherd said, had a long history of investing in physical assets that complement their trading activities. In February, they teamed with Shepherd to begin investing in upstream activities in the U.S. Lower 48.