New firm to target Rockies, Midcontinent

March 31, 2015
Independence Resources Management (IRM), Houston, has started work with a line-of-equity investment of as much as $500 million from Warburg Pincus affiliates as an independent oil and gas company focused on the US Midcontinent and Rocky Mountain regions.

Independence Resources Management (IRM), Houston, has started work with a line-of-equity investment of as much as $500 million from Warburg Pincus affiliates as an independent oil and gas company focused on the US Midcontinent and Rocky Mountain regions.

“The company will focus on plays with large amounts of hydrocarbons in place and low recovery factors, where advanced drilling and completion techniques can create compelling risk-adjusted returns,” Warburg Pincus said in a statement.

Members of the founding staff previously worked together at Enron Oil & Gas. Mike Van Horn, recently senior vice-president of exploration and then vice-president of geoscience at Newfield Exploration, is IRM chief executive officer.

Others include John Nicholas, chief operating officer, recently general manager for the Appalachia Division at Southwestern Energy; Rod Steward, chief corporate officer, manager of exploitation, capital planning, and analysis for Sheridan Production Partners; and Charles Minero, chief geosciences officer, senior staff geologist at Shell Oil Co.