Drillcore Energy Partners LLC is seeking a target of $250 million for its first fund to make value-enhancing investments in the upstream oil and gas sector in the U.S., the New York-based private equity firm said late April 16.

Drillcore is led by Evan Turner, who is formerly director and head of energy at StormHarbour Partners and a founding member of CohnReznick Capital’s oil and gas group.

Turner launched Drillcore in early 2018 to raise capital from a limited partner (LP) base for investments in “overlooked” assets. The firm will work closely with management teams comprised of industry veterans as both operating partners and advisers, enabling the team to optimize the portfolio's value for its LP base.

“Drillcore fills the void in the middle-market upstream sector that are often overlooked by larger funds, by targeting investments around $75 million per deal,” Turner said in a statement.

Drillcore said it already has an inventory of pending acquisitions that have been placed under letter of intent. The firm is targeting assets in multiple onshore basins in the U.S. historically been drilled only by vertical wells with plans to fund horizontal drilling.

“Drillcore has an ability to value-up assets by investing expansionary capital to management teams to acquire bolt-on acquisitions, improve operational efficiencies, and use modern, innovative technology for the redevelopment of existing assets that have been overlooked,” Turner said.

Drillcore said it plans to close the fundraise for its inaugural fund this summer. The investor base for the fund comprises state and corporate pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, family offices, high net worth individuals and endowments.

“Since launching Drillcore in early 2018, we have successfully sourced a number of proprietary, negotiated transactions for our initial portfolio of investments,” Turner said. “Our creative capital structures enable our partners to maintain control of their businesses while Drillcore facilitates long-term growth and value-creation.”