News

Blue Water Energy and Blackstone have agreed to lead an initial investment of up to $1 billion in Mime Petroleum. Established by Blue Water Energy, Mime Petroleum is a Norway-focused oil and gas company.

PRESS RELEASE

Oslo, Norway, 25th January 2018 – Mime Petroleum AS (together with its subsidiaries referred to as “Mime Petroleum” or “the Company”), a new independent development and production company established earlier this year by Blue Water Energy LLP (“BWE” or “Blue Water Energy”) and Sverre Skogen (Chairman and CEO), announced today that they have partnered with Blackstone Energy Partners (“Blackstone”). BWE and Blackstone have agreed to lead an initial investment of up to $1 billion in Mime Petroleum.

Mime Petroleum is primarily focused on driving value creation in existing fields and licences on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (“NCS”). The Company will acquire assets available on the NCS and pursue production optimization, developments and near-field exploration opportunities. The Mime Petroleum management team has a long track record of M&A, technical, commercial and financial success on the NCS. Mr. Sverre Skogen was Executive / Non-Executive Chairman of Det norske oljeselskap (now Aker BP).

The core management team is comprised of five executives who previously worked together building DEA Norge’s upstream business, along with Harald Grøsfjeld who joined as CFO with over 29 years’ experience in the oil industry. Mustafa M. Siddiqui, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, and Kjell-Erik Østdahl, Senior Advisor at Blackstone and former Executive Vice President for Operations at Schlumberger, will join the board of Mime Petroleum.

Sverre Skogen, Chairman and CEO of Mime Petroleum, commented on the announcement: “Whilst Blue Water Energy has provided strong strategic and financial support to date, this is now significantly enhanced in combination with Blackstone. Mustafa Siddiqui and his team are a welcome addition and I am looking forward to working with both parties on delivering the vision we have for Mime Petroleum. There are a lot of high-quality opportunities on the NCS, and, with two of the foremost energy investors behind us, we are well positioned to take advantage of these.”

Mustafa M. Siddiqui, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, added: “We are delighted to be backing Sverre Skogen and the Mime Petroleum team. With $15 billion of capital invested in the energy sector, we continue our track record of supporting top management teams with the growth capital and resources to build energy industry champions. We and BWE have enjoyed a successful partnership in the UK and we look forward to replicating that success in Norway.”

Graeme Sword, Partner of Blue Water Energy, said: “We are happy to partner with Blackstone again on building another leading E&P business. We want to provide our portfolio companies with the optimal shareholder base and we believe Blackstone is an aligned partner that shares our ambitions for Mime.

About Mime Petroleum:
Mime Petroleum is a newly formed development and production company on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Mime Petroleum has a team of highly experienced oil and gas industry staff with deep experience across most fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Using these resources, Mime Petroleum is developing a material and sustainable development and production business on the NCS by the following means:
Investing in commercially attractive development projects and fields in production;
Increasing the recovery of fields supporting infill drilling programs and IOR initiatives;
Prolong lifetime and EUR of fields through maturation of near-field prospects; and
Building capacity and ensuring financial flexibility for further growth on NCS.

Mime Petroleum’s vision is to build a leading E&P business that is recognized for its ability to use knowledge to create value. The execution of our strategy will be underpinned by our four core values: Teamwork, Knowledge, Integrity and Ownership. The Company is led by Executive Chairman Sverre Skogen and has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway.

About Blue Water Energy:
Founded in 2011, Blue Water Energy is a leading global middle market energy specialist private equity firm based in London. The firm primarily targets investments in the Exploration & Production, Upstream Equipment & Services and Mid/Downstream Equipment & Services sectors. Blue Water Energy partners with best-in-class management teams and utilises a network of seasoned investment and operating professionals to drive value creation across its portfolio companies. Since raisings its initial two funds (BWE Fund I and BWE Fund II), Blue Water Energy has $3.0bn under management across a global portfolio of 14 companies.

For more information about Blue Water Energy, please visit www.bluewaterenergy.com

About Blackstone Energy Partners:
Blackstone Energy Partners is Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business, with a successful record built on our industry expertise and partnerships with exceptional management teams. Blackstone has invested more than $15 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry.

Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies in which we invest, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with over $385 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.