Investment firm Riverbend Energy Group is exploring a sale of three portfolios of oil and gas assets, seizing on a rally in commodity prices to seek in total around $2 billion, including debt, from potential buyers, people familiar with the matter said.
Riverbend has been working with an investment bank on an auction process for the triumvirate of land parcel assets in recent weeks, said the sources, who cautioned that no sale is guaranteed and who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential information.
Houston-based Riverbend did not respond to a request for comment.
The assets across all three portfolios consist of minority stakes in individual oil and gas wells. Known in the energy industry as “nonop,” such positions are sold to investors by producers seeking funds to develop projects. In return, the investor gets a cut from the sale of the hydrocarbons extracted.
The three portfolios—Riverbend VI, Riverbend VI-B and Riverbend VIII—could attract interest from other financial investors who do not have drilling experience and want the cash generated by oil and gas assets.
Established in 2016, Riverbend VI consists of nearly 150,000 net acres with net production of around 28,000 boe/d. The land is located in the Williston Basin shale play of North Dakota and the Ohio portion of the Utica, according to Riverbend’s website.
Riverbend VIII owns nonoperated working interests in assets in Arkansas’ Fayetteville shale basin and the Haynesville shale formation, which stretches across Louisiana and Texas. A 2018 portfolio of assets, they have net production of around 115 MMcfe/d, according to the website.
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