Navitas acquires Midland basin midstream assets

Sept. 28, 2015
Navitas Midstream Partners LLC of The Woodlands, Tex.,acquired natural gas gathering and processing assets serving Martin, Midland, and Glasscock counties in Texas from a subsidiary of DCP Midstream LLC of Denver for an undisclosed amount.

Navitas Midstream Partners LLC of The Woodlands, Tex.,acquired natural gas gathering and processing assets serving Martin, Midland, and Glasscock counties in Texas from a subsidiary of DCP Midstream LLC of Denver for an undisclosed amount.

The assets include 1,000 miles of gas-gathering pipelines and a cryogenic processing plant having capacity of more than 60 MMcfd.

"We are excited to acquire such an extensive footprint, which is in the core of the Midland basin and will provide the foundation for additional growth opportunities," said R. Bruce Northcutt, Navitas founder and chief executive officer. "Our strategy is to revitalize the assets through an extensive capital program designed to improve system capacity and efficiencies."

Founded with a $500 million investment from New York private equity firm Warburg Pincus in 2014, Navitas describes itself as a producer-focused midstream company seeking to develop, acquire, and operate midstream assets across multiple basins in North America.

"We intend to leverage our management team s experience in the Permian basin to find the best solutions for customers," said Northcutt who was president and chief executive officer of Copano Energy LLC until it was sold to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP for $5 billion in May 2013.

The Navitas management team includes Bryan W. Neskora, formerly of Copano and El Paso Corp., as well as James E. Wade, formerly of Copano and Southern Union Energy Services.

Navitas said its senior management team has a track record of successful midstream projects in numerous basins. Its experience includes gathering, treating, processing, fractionation, and transportation of natural gas, NGLs, condensate and crude oil.

DCP Midstream is undergoing a corporate restructuring that started in January when it reduced its staffing by 20% and closed its Oklahoma City regional office. It relocated its Tulsa and Midland offices to the Denver headquarters and Houston regional office.

"With a 90-year history, we are repositioning ourselves for the long term," said Wouter van Kempen, DCP Midstream chairman and chief executive officer. "While this transition is difficult, we are establishing DCP for continued growth."