KKR and Western Natural Resources have formed a partnership to acquire producing and undeveloped oil and gas assets in the Williston Basin.
The Williston Basin, extending from the Dakotas into Montana and Saskatechewan, includes meaningful existing production and high-quality, well-defined remaining drilling inventory well suited to KKR’s Energy Real Assets strategy, which prioritizes the generation of free cash flow and strong asset-level returns in the upstream oil and gas sector.
Western’s CEO Heath Mireles and his team bring extensive operating experience to the partnership, having drilled, completed and operated thousands of wells over the Williston Basin’s long history. The Western team will leverage their collective experiences from time spent at large public operators as well as other private companies to acquire, manage and develop producing wells and drilling locations throughout the play.
Ben Conner, director on KKR’s Energy Real Assets team, said, “The Williston continues to be a core area of focus for us as we see a significant opportunity to acquire high-quality producing assets with attractive long-term value creation opportunities to be delivered through superior technical and operational execution. We have known Heath and members of his team for years and believe our partnership is well positioned to acquire and manage assets in the Williston for the long run.”
KKR is making its investment in the partnership through funds affiliated with KKR’s Energy Real Assets strategy, which has invested approximately $4 billion in capital across 12 transactions since 2015 and manages a portfolio of oil and gas assets in numerous unconventional and conventional resource areas across the United States.