New US-based E&P firm, 1947 Oil & Gas PLC, seeks to build ‘E&P of scale.’
A newly formed oil and gas production company, 1947 Oil & Gas plc, has announced its formation and initial transaction. The new company will be focused on building and operating a ‘material’ production portfolio in the United States.
The company has signed a term sheet to acquire Renaissance Offshore LLC, which currently produces 3,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in the shallow-water US Gulf, and is targeting increased production of more than 4,000 boe/d by 2027.
The acquisition of Renaissance is said to provide 1947 with immediate oil-weighted cash flows and a “strong platform” to build a “significant” US oil and gas production business.
The new company takes its name from the Kermac No. 16 well, drilled in 1947, in Ship Shoal Block 32. The first offshore oil well completed beyond sight of land, it has been described as “the beginning of modern offshore drilling.” Operated by Kerr-McGee with partners Phillips Petroleum and Stanolind, it introduced fixed offshore platform drilling and set the foundation for modern offshore exploration. “This defining milestone in the industry is the inspiration behind the name 1947 Oil & Gas plc,” the company said.
The new company, 1947, was founded by Jeff Currie and Ivan Murphy. Currie was the former global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs and most recently a Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer of Energy Pathways at The Carlyle Group. Murphy was a co-founder and Director of Cove Energy plc and is currently Executive Chairman of Harena Rare Earths plc. Currie and Murphy will serve as Directors of 1947.
Rounding out the management team will be Brian Romere, current President and CFO of Renaissance Offshore, who will serve in the same capacity at 1947. Romere, a long-time executive with operations experience in the US Gulf of Mexico and US Gulf Coast, was a co-founder of Renaissance.
Tim Duncan, newly appointed Executive Chairman of 1947, said:
“There is an enormous opportunity to roll-up mature conventional oil-weighted assets with the goal of managing cost, executing low-risk development opportunities and distributing cash flows to investors, specifically in the Gulf of America and along the US Gulf Coast. Our first acquisition gives us a strong operational base and a credible platform to grow and achieve those goals. I look forward to working with Jeff, Ivan and Brian to quickly build 1947 into a company that delivers real value for all stakeholders.”
About the Author
Bruce Beaubouef
Managing Editor
Bruce Beaubouef is Managing Editor for Offshore magazine. In that capacity, he plans and oversees content for the magazine; writes features on technologies and trends for the magazine; writes news updates for the website; creates and moderates topical webinars; and creates videos that focus on offshore oil and gas and renewable energies. Beaubouef has been in the oil and gas trade media for 25 years, starting out as Editor of Hart’s Pipeline Digest in 1998. From there, he went on to serve as Associate Editor for Pipe Line and Gas Industry for Gulf Publishing for four years before rejoining Hart Publications as Editor of PipeLine and Gas Technology in 2003. He joined Offshore magazine as Managing Editor in 2010, at that time owned by PennWell Corp. Beaubouef earned his Ph.D. at the University of Houston in 1997, and his dissertation was published in book form by Texas A&M University Press in September 2007 as The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: U.S. Energy Security and Oil Politics, 1975-2005.