Blackstone in $500m North Sea investment in Siccar Point Energy
Blackstone’s top Wall Street energy guru drove through his first major deal yesterday since sweeping into the UK, as the private equity group said it would lead a half billion dollar investment in a new oil explorer and producer focused on the North Sea,
Mustafa Siddiqui made the recent move to London to lead Blackstone’s energy investments across Europe, shifting from New York.
Yesterday the first fruits of the move were announced, as Blackstone said it had led a $500m (£301m) initial investment in new oil and gas explorer Siccar Point Energy Limited.
The investment, led by affiliates of Blackstone Energy Partners together with oil and gas investment firm Blue Water Energy, will be used by Siccar Point Energy to pursue opportunities on the UK Continental Shelf, with a strong North Sea exploration focus.
Siccar Point Energy will engage in activity across the full value chain, from exploration to production, with a proportion of the initial funding providing by GIC, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund.
Mustafa Siddiqui, managing director of Blackstone Energy Partners, said, “Blackstone has invested approximately $7bn of equity in the energy sector over the last decade, the majority of which has been to fund the formation of new companies and capital expenditure needs of existing high-growth companies led by exceptional, entrepreneurial management teams.”
Siccar Point Energy chief executive Jonathan Roger also commented “While some of the largest upstream companies are cutting back on capital expenditures, we believe this is a great time to build a business in the North Sea for a well capitalised and experienced team with a focused strategy.