Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Private equity player Quantum Energy Partners has splashed into the Gulf of Mexico through a new joint venture with privately held Houston Energy. Quantum formed HEQ Deepwater with more than $400 million in equity capital commitments. The company will be led by Houston Energy CEO Ron Neal and other senior managers. Quantum announced the new company on Monday following last week’s confirmation of a final investment decision for the Shenandoah deepwater development (OD Aug.26'21). HEQ is the newest partner at Shenandoah after it acquired a 20% stake from operator Beacon Offshore Energy, another private equity-backed firm (OD Dec.13'18). HEQ said Shenandoah is its “second major acquisition,” but did not disclose the first. HEQ and Beacon are evidence that private equity money is finding its way back into the deepwater Gulf after a bruising decade that saw funded companies like Venari Resources, Fieldwood Energy and Cobalt International Energy go bankrupt. Houston Energy is a prospect generator and minority partner in several offshore fields, with more than three decades and hundreds of millions of discovered barrels to its name. Neal said HEQ will allow Houston Energy “to be a multidimensional partner for operators throughout the development cycle of an asset.” Quantum CEO Wil VanLoh called the deepwater Gulf “uniquely capable of delivering large production volumes with lower relative carbon intensity than any other region” in the world, hinting that Quantum will be on the hunt for more partnerships in the region.
