Liberty Resources II LLC Announces $350 Million Commitment Led by Riverstone

DENVER and LONDON, Nov. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Liberty Resources II LLC ("Liberty II" or the "Company"), a newly-formed, Denver-based oil and gas company today announced a $350 million commitment, including $300 million from funds managed by energy private equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC ("Riverstone"), $50 million from Oakmont Corporation and additional amounts from the Company's management team.  The Riverstone commitment comprises $200 million from Riverstone Global Energy and Power Fund V ("Fund V") and $100 million from Riverstone Energy Limited ("REL").

Riverstone and Liberty II management previously partnered successfully in Liberty Resources LLC ("Liberty"), an oil and gas company focused on the Bakken Shale of North Dakota. Over the course of two years and through thirteen discrete proprietary acquisitions, Liberty established a land position of approximately 43,000 net acres and drilled and completed 29 operated wells in the Bakken Shale and Three Forks formations of North Dakota, ultimately achieving over 6,000 boepd of net production. Liberty realized industry-leading recovery rates in the Bakken Shale due to its application of unique and proprietary completion designs. The majority of Liberty's assets were sold to Kodiak Oil & Gas in July 2013 for approximately $680 million.

Liberty II is led by Chairman and CEO Chris Wright, President Mark Pearson, CFO Paul Vitek and other former senior executives of Liberty. Similar to the strategy employed by Liberty in the Bakken Shale, Liberty II will apply the management team's expertise in well completion design and execution to proven, yet largely undeveloped resource plays. Among other potential areas of focus, Liberty II will likely concentrate its efforts in the DJ Basin, the Powder River Basin and the Permian Basin, where certain play types are well suited to the Company's highly technical completion capabilities.

Mr. Wright commented:  "We are very pleased to continue our successful relationship with Riverstone and appreciate their support as our team develops a new portfolio of assets following the divestiture of our Bakken assets. Over the past two years, Liberty Resources' unique completions approach consistently demonstrated the highest average production rates of any operator in the Bakken formation. We are looking forward to deploying this strategy in other emerging resource plays in our new venture."

John Lancaster, Partner at Riverstone, added: "Our equity commitment to Liberty II reflects the confidence that we have in Chris, Mark, Paul, and the entire Liberty team. This investment exhibits Riverstone's strategy of re-partnering with proven management teams that possess advantaged industry expertise and deep, basin-focused operating experience. We are excited about this new venture and hope to build on the success we had with Liberty I."

About Riverstone Holdings LLC

Riverstone is an energy and power-focused private investment firm founded in 2000 by David M. Leuschen and Pierre F. Lapeyre, Jr. with approximately $27 billion of equity capital raised. Riverstone conducts buyout and growth capital investments in the exploration & production, midstream, oilfield services, power and renewable sectors of the energy industry. With offices in New York, London and Houston, the firm has committed approximately $24.5 billion to 103 investments in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

About Riverstone Energy Limited

REL is a closed-ended investment company that invests exclusively in the global energy industry, with a particular focus on the exploration & production and midstream sectors. The company is well positioned to take advantage of, and benefit from, the large number of investment opportunities being driven by continued global energy demand, including the North American energy revolution. REL aims to capitalize on the opportunities presented by Riverstone's pipeline of investment opportunities and is listed on the London Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol RSE.

SOURCE Liberty Resources II LLC