SandPoint Resources LLC said Oct. 16 it partnered with Houston-based investment firm Carnelian Energy Capital Management LP to acquire and develop upstream oil and gas assets.
As part of its partnership, SandPoint closed an equity commitment from Carnelian for an undisclosed amount. The company plans to use the funds in “select onshore North American basins,” according to the company release.
SandPoint is a San Antonio, Texas-based independent oil and gas company formed in 2018 by a management team with a deep history in the acquisition and development of oil and gas assets in South Texas.
The company’s cofounders Erik Hanson, Matt Koehler, Robert Welch, Brandon Williams and Brian Arriaga have experience operating in conventional and unconventional Texas-based oil and gas plays from their previous employers that include Abaco Operating LLC, BlackBrush Oil & Gas LP, Silverback Exploration LLC and Lewis Energy Group LP.
Daniel Goodman, partner of Carnelian, said the SandPoint team’s “deep roots and technical experience in South Texas provide a compelling competitive advantage in sourcing and operating assets.”
Hanson, who leads SandPoint as CEO, is a second-generation independent exploration geologist with more than 35 years of experience in the generation, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the Texas Gulf Coast and Permian Basin, according to the company’s website.
Prior to cofounding SandPoint, Hanson spent 20 years as the cofounder and CEO of Abaco Operating, where he led the team in several new field discoveries in the Frio, Vicksburg, Wilcox and Eagle Ford formations in South Texas and Gulf Coast region.
Koehler, SandPoint’s vice president of exploration, and Welch, vice president of engineering for SandPoint, were previously with BlackBush Oil & Gas, an exploration and development company with a 360,000 gross-acre position throughout South Texas in the Eagle Ford and Austin Chalk.
SandPoint’s vice president of operations, Williams, previously served as operations manager for Silverback Exploration, an EnCap Investments LP-backed E&P whose predecessor developed a Delaware Basin position that sold in 2016 for $855 million.
Lastly, Arriaga, vice president of finance for SandPoint, was a member of Lewis Energy Group’s finance team prior to cofounding SandPoint. Lewis is a natural gas operator in South Texas that also has international operations in Colombia and Mexico.
Hanson said in a statement: “We have spent our careers acquiring and developing oil and gas assets in the Eagle Ford trend and in conventional South Texas basins and we believe that Carnelian’s unique and nimble partnership model will help us take advantage of the exciting opportunities we see in these dynamic areas.”
Carnelian has $1 billion of cumulative equity commitments focused on lower-to-middle market investments in the North American upstream, midstream and oilfield services sectors, according to the release.
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